[Open-education] Special Edition: The OER Digest - 11/20/15

Fri Nov 20 17:20:31 UTC 2015

By Ethan Senack, Student PIRGs | Volume 4.5 - November 20, 2015
//

*THE OER DIGEST**
* Your tip sheet for U.S. OER updates, opportunities, and reminders

*UPDATE FROM CALIFORNIA: *After a few weeks of turmoil surrounding a Cal 
State professor who forewent an expensive textbook he was supposed to 
assign in favor of more affordable (and some openly-licensed) materials, 
the College upheld its disciplinary reprimand. The faculty board 
reviewing the case stated that Professor Bourget violated the 
university's rules, but also recognized that his department did not have 
sufficient procedures to allow discussion around changing material. The 
case resurfaced discussions about academic freedom, and how it applies 
to individual faculty, departments, and institutions.

  * READ MORE: An interesting analysis
    <http://www.ocregister.com/articles/faculty-691165-students-written.html>
    from the Orange County Register about their local colleges' policies
    around course material adoption.

*
**NOTE ON THE TEXTBOOK BILL: *The House version of Senator Durbin's bill 
to create a federal grant program that provides professional 
development, training, and resources for faculty interested in OER 
picked up two new cosponsors this month: Rep. Alcee Hasting (FL) and 
Beto O'Rourke (TX).

*IN K-12:* The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) announced 
the launch of their new OER Portal, in partnership with iNACOL. The 
portal " provides background and understanding of OER implementation at 
state and district levels, as well as a more detailed look at how OER 
can impact classroom practices." See it for yourself here> 
<http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Programs/Open_Educational_Resources_%28OER%29_Stories_Policies_and_Resources_.html>

*IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:* Last month, the Open Textbook Network - a 
project launched by OER advocates at the University of Minnesota - 
announced that their network of institutions and campus partners have 
saved students an estimated $1.5 million in textbook costs. Considering 
they only launched last year, it's quite a feat.

  * CHECK OUT: The press release
    <http://discover.umn.edu/news/teaching-education/u-ms-open-textbook-network-reports-student-savings-15-million-open-textbooks>,
    or retweet
    <https://twitter.com/open_textbooks/status/657250552770908161> their
    note about this milestone!

*CONFERENCE SEASON: *But when isn't it, honestly. Lots of folks will be 
heading to Vancouver next week for OpenEd 15, an annual conference for 
educators, advocates, and many others. The three-day conference will 
feature tracks on OER and Accessibility, the Impact of OER on Student 
Success, OER Adoption Models, Sustainability in OER, and much more. 
Others are in Belgium for OpenCon.
provides background and understanding of OER implementation at state and 
district levels, as well as a more detailed look at how OER can impact 
classroom practices - See more at: 
http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Programs/Open_Educational_Resources_(OER)_Stories_Policies_and_Resources_.html#sthash.gCHo1lZw.dpuf
provides background and understanding of OER implementation at state and 
district levels, as well as a more detailed look at how OER can impact 
classroom practices. - See more at: 
http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Programs/Open_Educational_Resources_(OER)_Stories_Policies_and_Resources_.html#sthash.gCHo1lZw.dpuf
provides background and understanding of OER implementation at state and 
district levels, as well as a more detailed look at how OER can impact 
classroom practices. - See more at: 
http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Programs/Open_Educational_Resources_(OER)_Stories_Policies_and_Resources_.html#sthash.gCHo1lZw.dpuf
provides background and understanding of OER implementation at state and 
district levels, as well as a more detailed look at how OER can impact 
classroom practices. - See more at: 
http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Programs/Open_Educational_Resources_(OER)_Stories_Policies_and_Resources_.html#sthash.gCHo1lZw.dpuf

*It's Thursday, October 15th*. Ethan Senack here. I, myself, will be at 
OpenEd next week - look forward to seeing many of you there! Don't 
forget to send tips, updates, opportunities, and feedback to 
@HigherEdPIRG or esenack at pirg.org with the subject "OER DIGEST".

_STORIES FROM THE FIELD:_
/A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those 
most impacted /
_

_*FROM VIRGINIA: *"In late October, Swem [Library] posted a survey about 
textbook prices. Featured on the front of the College of William and 
Mary’s library on a large whiteboard, the survey results included 56 
students who noted that high prices of textbooks caused them not to buy 
the required textbook, and 16 students who said they earned a poor grade 
as a result.

“We had quite a few students say that they didn’t purchase a textbook 
for a class because it was too expensive, and they thought their grade 
suffered because of that,” Arts Librarian and Interim Digital 
Scholarship Librarian Kathleen DeLaurenti said. “I don’t want to see 
that happening. If there’s something we can do, I want to be there to do 
that.”_Read more about their visit with Creative Commons._ 
<http://flathatnews.com/2015/11/09/textbook-forum-affordability-costs-swem/>

*FROM OREGON: * “We work with faculty—whether they teach online or 
whether they teach on campus—to try to help them to find no-cost course 
materials for their students,” said Dianna Fisher, director of Open 
Oregon State. “If they can’t find an open textbook that meets their 
needs, then we will work with them to either take an existing textbook 
and modify it to meet their needs, or if that’s not an option, we will 
work with them to create a textbook that does meet their needs, and then 
offer that for free to the students here at OSU and students, really, in 
all other places." _Read more about their program>_ 
<http://www.dailybarometer.com/news/students-rally-in-the-fight-for-free-textbooks/article_734351ec-82b5-11e5-874b-0b5602df8a5f.html>

/Have a story you'd like featured? Email it to esenack at pirg.org./

*
SYLLABUS

**Readers Will Shape the Future* | The Bookseller
/(an interesting take on the publishing industry)
/http://www.thebookseller.com/insight/readers-will-shape-future-316074/
/
*Harvard Law School launches “Free the Law” project* | Harvard Law Today/
(on digitizing US case law and providing free access)/
http://today.law.harvard.edu/harvard-law-school-launches-free-the-law-project-with-ravel-law-to-digitize-us-case-law-provide-free-access//
/
*This important conversation between Phil Hill and Mike Caulfield:
*/(discussing the merits of textbook price data vs student spending data)/*
*

  * *Bad Data Can Lead To Bad Policy: College students don’t spend
    $1,200+ on textbooks*
    http://mfeldstein.com/bad-data-can-lead-to-bad-policy-college-students-dont-spend-1200-on-textbooks/

  * *Asking What Students Spend on Textbooks Is the Wrong Question*
    http://hapgood.us/2015/11/09/asking-what-students-spend-on-textbooks-is-the-wrong-question/

  * *Asking What Students Spend On Textbooks Is Very Important, But
    Insufficient*
    http://mfeldstein.com/asking-what-students-spend-on-textbooks-is-very-important-but-insufficient/

-- 
Ethan Senack
Higher Education Advocate
U.S. Public Interest Research Group
www.uspirg.org
@HigherEdPIRG
(202) 546-9707 x321

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