[Open-education] OER Digest - December 22nd, 2017

Fri Dec 22 01:14:24 UTC 2017

>From Katie Steen (SPARC) | Volume 47 | December 22nd, 2017

With updates from Ethan Senack

THE OER DIGEST

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

OPENING THE TEXTBOOK: A new report
<https://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/oer.html> by the Babson Survey
Research Group found that OER awareness and adoption are on the rise.
Babson surveyed more than 2,700 U.S. faculty about OER. Although awareness
and adoption of OER remain small, the survey showed that the OER movement
is growing. Highlights from the report:

   -

   30% of faculty say they are "aware" or "very aware" of OER, up from 26%
   last year.
   -

   9% of faculty report having adopted an open textbook, up from 5% last
   year.
   -

   44% of faculty say they will use or consider using OER in the next 3
   years, up from 38% last year.

The report was shared widely on twitter
<https://twitter.com/search?q=babson%20OER&src=typd> and was also covered
<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/12/19/more-faculty-members-are-using-oer-survey-finds>
by Inside Higher Ed.

CANADIAN GOV SUPPORTS OER PILOT: At the urging of the Canadian Alliance for
Student Associations (CASA), the Canadian federal government’s Standing
Committee on Finance recommended
<http://www.casa-acae.com/government_committee_recommends_addressing_student_mental_health_and_textbook_costs>
that the government create a pilot program to provide students and faculty
with incentives to develop OER. The Committee’s report will be considered
by the Minister of Finance in the 2018 federal budget process.

HEA MOVEMENT: The U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce
passed a Republican version of the Higher Education Act  Reauthorization
(HEA) last week. HEA is the federal legislation that governs higher
education in the U.S. and has not been reauthorized in nearly 10 years. An
amendment to add the Affordable College Textbook Act
<https://sparcopen.org/our-work/2017-act-bill/> to HEA was proposed by Rep.
Jared Polis (D-CO) to raise awareness about OER but it was known in advance
that the committee was unlikely to adopt most amendments.. OER advocates in
the U.S. will be working with champions in the House and Senate to find
other opportunities for OER in HEA.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS: The OER Digest team wishes you a happy holiday season and a
wonderful new year! Stay tuned for the next Digest on January 11th.

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

A quick look back at some of this year’s biggest changes

US AGENCIES STEPPING UP:  The U.S. Department of Education adopted
<https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/19/2017-00910/open-licensing-requirement-for-competitive-grant-programs>
an open licensing policy for grant-funded educational materials while the
Department of State developed a Federal Open Licensing Playbook
<https://eca.state.gov/files/bureau/open_licensing_playbook_final.pdf>.

NEW ACTORS: Businesses started offering OER through their proprietary
platforms including Cengage, Follett, VitalSource, Barnes + Noble, and Top
Hat. This represents a significant shift in the the course content market
as businesses look to get involved in the growing OER movement.

STATE LEGISLATION: States invested significant time and resources in OER
initiatives. 5 states passed OER legislation in 2017 with notable bills
from Texas
<http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=85R&Bill=SB810>,
Colorado <http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb17-258>, and Maryland
<http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?pid=billpage&tab=subject3&id=sb0424&stab=01&ys=2017RS>.

GLOBAL FRONT: In honor of the 10th anniversary of the Cape Town Open
Education Declaration, OER advocates released a community resource
<http://www.capetowndeclaration.org/cpt10/> with 10 new recommendations to
move open education forward.  Delegates from 111 countries at the OER World
Congress adopted the 2017 Ljubljana OER Action Plan
<https://en.unesco.org/news/ljubljana-oer-action-plan-2017-adopted-support-quality-open-licensed-educational-resources?platform=hootsuite>
.

OPENSTAX SAVINGS: Students are projected to save an estimated $145M
<http://news.rice.edu/2017/08/10/nearly-1-5-million-college-students-to-use-free-textbooks-this-school-year/>
in the 2017-2018 academic year by using OpenStax books.

GO OPEN SUMMITS: 2017 #GoOpen Summits reached 325 school districts and more
than 2,000 educators across the country.

CAMPUS SAVINGS: Campus OER initiatives saved students millions of dollars
this year. Specifically, Maricopa Community College saved students more
than $9M
<https://maricopamillions.wordpress.com/2017/03/28/maricopa-millions-9-m-and-still-going/>
and Georgia Highlands College who saved students $3.8M.
<https://maricopamillions.wordpress.com/2017/03/28/maricopa-millions-9-m-and-still-going/>
 Send us your institution’s savings at oerdigest at gmail.com and we may
feature them in a future Digest!

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming Events, Proposal and Registration Deadlines, Report-Backs

REGISTER: Early bird registration is open for the Creative Commons 2018
Global Summit in Toronto. Register here:
https://summit.creativecommons.org/register2018/

REGISTER: The 2018 OE Global Conference take place in Delft, The
Netherlands. Register here:
https://conference.oeconsortium.org/2018/registration/

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those
impacted

FROM PENNSYLVANIA: “My responsibilities also include implementing a robust
faculty development program. That entails finding grants that are available
to professors for creating their own textbooks and encouraging them to work
with students to develop content and receive credit.” Read More >>
<http://news.psu.edu/story/498045/2017/12/12/academics/penn-state-berks-unveils-open-education-resources-initiatives>

FROM MASSACHUSETTS: “I think it really goes to who the Wheaton student is.
Someone who not only cares about getting free textbooks, but cares about
the social justice aspect of it.” Read More >>
<http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/free-textbook-initiative-at-wheaton-college/article_606e4be3-fe87-5c73-89fb-42bae4ae09a3.html>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Each edition, we’ll highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource

Dr. Emma Hutchinson from the University of Victoria adapted Principles of
Microeconomics
<https://open.bccampus.ca/find-open-textbooks/?uuid=d4468c30-938d-4ba9-acd8-e73cebbec739&contributor=&keyword=&subject=>
originally published by OpenStax. This adaption expands on the original
book and includes more than 200 multiple choice questions and eight case
studies.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Students’ Vital Role in OER
http://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2017/12/13/students-have-vital-role-creating-and-spreading-oer

New Zero-Cost Textbook Classes Minimize Educational Barriers

http://www.pcccourier.com/news/new-zero-cost-textbook-classes-minimize-educational-barriers.html

Interesting to Consider >>

What will the rollback of net neutrality mean for innovation in higher ed? |
Education Dive

https://www.educationdive.com/news/what-will-the-rollback-of-net-neutrality-mean-for-innovation-in-higher-ed/513250/

Moocs focus ‘distracted universities from other online tools’ | Times
Higher Education
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/moocs-focus-distracted-universities-other-online-tools

Free Online Learning Resources for a Bilingual Wales | Business News Wales

https://businessnewswales.com/free-online-learning-resources-bilingual-wales/

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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