[Open-education] OER Digest - August 10th, 2016

Thu Aug 10 21:39:11 UTC 2017

>From Ethan Senack (Creative Commons USA) | Volume 37 | August 10th, 2017

With updates from Manuela Ekowo, Jacob Berkman, and Brady Yano

THE OER DIGEST

Your bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and
reminders

ED REGULATIONS: As previously reported in this Digest, the Trump
Administration has requested comments
<https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/06/22/2017-13157/evaluation-of-existing-regulations>
from the public on rules and regulations at the Department of Education
that are overly burdensome or reduce local control - and ones that are
working well. It is expected that the publishing association will submit
comments in opposition to the recent open licensing rule, so expect an
opportunity to sign onto a coalition letter similar to this one
<https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=ED-2015-OS-0105-0185>, highlighting
the potential of the rule and how it works on behalf of the public.

STAX ON STACKS: Open textbook publisher OpenStax announced today
<http://news.rice.edu/2017/08/10/nearly-1-5-million-college-students-to-use-free-textbooks-this-school-year/>
that they’re expecting nearly 1.5 million students to use OpenStax books
this year - saving an estimated $145 million. That estimate is nearly
double their estimated student savings of last year.

STATE LEGISLATION: In California, legislation
<http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB727>
around innovative textbook pricing models and bulk purchasing agreements
has passed the Senate and is under consideration in the House. A number of
other states, including Ohio and North Carolina, will be returning from
summer recess with OER and textbook legislation on the table. Check out
SPARC’s new OER legislative tracking tool
<https://sparcopen.org/our-work/state-policy-tracking/> for more info.

NACS REPORT: A new report from the National Association of College Stores
finds that student spending on textbooks has decreased slightly since last
year, down to $579 on average per year from $602 in 2015. NACS cites OER as
a factor in this decline. From their press release
<http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-report-from-national-association-of-college-stores-shows-decrease-in-overall-spending-on-course-materials-by-college-students-300500582.html>,
key findings from the survey of nearly 20,000 students also include:

   -

   “Students are opting to rent more; campus store the primary source: 43%
   of students rented at least one course material in fall 2016 compared to
   40% in fall 2015. And, 57% of students who rented a course material, did so
   through the campus store.”
   -

   “Campus store remains top source for course materials: In Fall 2016
   students report that 82% of course materials were purchased from the campus
   store, 40% from Amazon, 8% from a peer/student, 7% from Chegg.com and 7%
   from a publisher website.”
   -

   “New print format is most purchased: In fall 2016, when purchasing
   course materials, 74% of students reported buying new print, 70% bought
   used print, and 23% bought digital. Purchasing of digital materials
   increased by 8% from 15 % in fall 2015 to 23% in fall 2016.”

OPEN UP RESOURCES: Announced this week
<http://openupresources.org/open-up-resources-announces-two-new-free-openly-licensed-curricula-in-development/>
that they are launching two new openly licensed K-12 core curricula. The
first, a comprehensive high school math curriculum, will be designed in
partnership with Illustrative Mathematics, and the second, a middle school
English Language Arts curriculum, comes in partnership with the Louisiana
Department of Education.

CAMPUS ACTION: A number of institutions made news this week for their work
on OER - Florida International University
<https://news.fiu.edu/2017/08/fiu-joins-national-movement-to-reduce-cost-of-books/114095>
for their new Textbook Affordability Taskforce and Cal State Fullerton
<http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/03/titans-work-displayed-at-national-computer-graphics-conference/>
for their new Affordable Learning Solutions ambassador program (both
universities are also part of OpenStax’ institutional partners program); Ohio
University
<http://www.thepostathens.com/article/2017/08/open-textbook-network-ou> for
joining the Open Textbook Network; Borough of Manhattan Community College
<http://www.amny.com/news/how-bmcc-is-fighting-rising-textbook-costs-through-oer-1.13941452>
for converting the most courses to zero-textbook cost courses out of the
CUNY system; and University of Wisconsin
<http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/university/breaking-free-to-save-students-money-colleges-are-looking-to/article_eebc0888-2f1f-5faf-ace3-6264b52b8512.html>
for a faculty member writing an open textbook.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: Creative Commons USA is hosting an #AskCC twitter chat for
educators, librarians, and other practitioners to ask experts questions
about licensing, copyright, and OER. The event will be on August 16th, at
2pm EST. Read more at http://bit.ly/askcctwitter.

EVENT: Registration for the first Florida OER Summit on September 7-8th is
now open. Register at https://www.flvc.org/oersummit.

EVENT: Registration for the 2017 MI OER Summit on September 22 is now open.
Register at
https://www.cvent.com/events/2017-mi-oer-summit/registration-6cd769897901462ba5f1c22dafa49d20.aspx?fqp=true.

OPPORTUNITY: There are a number of OER-focused panels up for consideration
at next year’s SXSW, including Achieving Equity with Open Educational
Resources <http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/78577>, Can OER Take On The
Publisher Giants? <http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/79945>, What Happens
When States Fund OER? <http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/72502>, and The
Information Revolution You’ve Never Heard Of
<http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/76340>, as well as many more. Create an
account and upvote your choices here: https://auth.sxsw.com/users/sign_up.

RECORDING: Missed Monday’s ALA webinar with Anita Walz’ on her experience
as a consultant on open education and the role of libraries in newly
democratic post-soviet Kyrgyzstan? The recording is available here:
http://connect.ala.org/node/268814.

SUBSCRIBE: If you haven’t already - subscribe to the OER Digest here
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsVwP-hgmvxYey_D1QbsKGAitjHhobvW6cX1vHGxSVWuq_sA/viewform>
.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

A brief snapshot of those making change on the ground level, and those most
impacted

FROM WASHINGTON: “Veteran science teacher John Coe and his colleagues at
North Lake Middle School in Lake Stevens, Washington, saw an instructional
need that was not being addressed by their traditional textbooks. In 2013,
they began using OER. With OER, Coe says, “we can edit down the sections of
text quickly. We can create leveled readings [that] help solve some of the
differences in reading levels … and give relevance to the text.” Now,
student performance levels on eighth-grade state assessments are 10 percent
to 15 percent higher than those in neighboring districts.” Read More >
<https://www.the74million.org/article/analysis-how-oer-is-boosting-school-performance-and-equity-from-the-suburbs-to-the-arctic>

FROM NEW YORK: “At CUNY, where almost half of the student body comes from
households earning less than $20,000, officials said the cost of a
student’s books can total as much as $1,200 a year. The officials said
faculty members were converting 350 popular courses to free digital
materials for the fall and were being trained on their use. These resources
will be shared publicly. The infusion of funding for this project is “a
real shot in the arm for efforts to make college attendance even more
affordable,” said CUNY Chancellor James Milliken. He said the course
catalog will show which classes have no textbook fees, and, in a year or
two, some CUNY degrees won’t require such fees.” Read More >
<https://www.wsj.com/articles/free-online-course-materials-may-help-take-textbooks-off-cuny-students-shoulders-1500589194>

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Via: Layla Bonnot‏ @LaylaBonnot Aug 3  Click to ReTweet >>
<https://twitter.com/LaylaBonnot/status/893230092675153921>

>From Washington to Utah, #OER help #students succeed. @CCSSO shares their
stories: http://bit.ly/2v3og9F  @The74

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads Relating to Education and Open

Free Online Course Materials Help Take Textbooks off N.Y. Students’
Shoulders | Wall Street Journal

https://www.wsj.com/articles/free-online-course-materials-may-help-take-textbooks-off-cuny-students-shoulders-1500589194

To Find Alternatives to Capitalism, Think Small: Why co-ops, regional
currencies, and hackerspaces are pointing the way toward a new economic
vision | The Nation

https://www.thenation.com/article/to-find-alternatives-to-capitalism-think-small/

Big Publishing Wants To Co-Opt The Open Textbook Revolution
<https://www.fastcompany.com/40432973/how-academic-publishers-are-looking-to-get-in-on-the-open-textbook-revolution>
| Fast Company

https://www.fastcompany.com/40432973/how-academic-publishers-are-looking-to-get-in-on-the-open-textbook-revolution

Nowhere is tech more important than in curriculum-here’s why | eSchool News

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2017/08/09/tech-important-curriculum/

The Pros and Cons of OER | Direct Network

http://directnetwork.mbsdirect.net/the-pros-and-cons-of-oer

Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest at gmail.com,
or tweet us @OERdigest <https://twitter.com/oerdigest>.

The OER Digest is a public newsletter distributed to a broad group of
stakeholders across the higher education community. You can join the open
Google Group or check out the distribution list here
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/oerdigest>.
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