[Open-education] OER Digest - February 9th, 2017

Thu Feb 9 23:03:31 UTC 2017

>From Brady Yano (SPARC) | Volume 24 | February 9th, 2017

THE OER DIGEST

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

OPEN ONTARIO: Last month, eCampus Ontario announced funding for 24 open
content projects
<https://www.ecampusontario.ca/Content/open-content-funding>. Of the
projects that have received funding, nine are new OER, one is a university
readiness resource, and 14 are course modules or full courses. All
resources developed will be openly licensed and are intended to support
both undergraduate and graduate level education. Read more>>
<https://www.ecampusontario.ca/Content/call-for-proposals-2016>

CONNECTICUT REPORT: Last month a Connecticut General Assembly Task Force
released the Open Source Textbook Report
<https://www.cga.ct.gov/hed/tfs/20150723_Task%20Force%20to%20Study%20Best%20Practices%20with%20Regard%20to%20Open%20Educational%20Resources/Final%20Report/Final%20Report.pdf>.
The Task Force (made up of faculty, student, and administrator
representation from two and four year, public and private institutions) was
established to study best practices with regard to Open Educational
Resources (OER). The report provides an update of OER activities across the
state and presents the findings of a statewide faculty survey
<https://public.tableau.com/profile/publish/DRAFTOpenEducationResourcesSurvey/Story1#!/publish-confirm>.
Key excerpts:

   -

   When compared to the national data collected by the Babson Survey
   Research Group, Connecticut faculty rank much higher in awareness with only
   22% of the respondents indicating that they were not aware of OERs vs. the
   national percentage of 65%.
   -

   92% of the respondents indicated a willingness to consider OER adoption
   over the next three years.
   -

   OER resources were viewed as equal or superior to traditional
   educational resources by 70% of respondents.

PUBLISHER WATCH: Inside Higher Ed recently reported on how textbook
publishers are increasingly pushing for all inclusive access deals for
college textbooks. In this model, students pay a course fee that provides
access to all digital course materials (unless students pay extra for a
print-on-demand copy), which is automatically included in tuition or
deducted from student accounts. While publishers promote this model as a
cost-saving solution, OER advocates argue that it gives publishers an even
greater stranglehold over prices and access to content. Read more>>
<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/01/31/textbook-publishers-contemplate-inclusive-access-business-model-future>

STATE LEGISLATION UPDATE: Washington State Representative Melanie
Stambaugh, R-Puyallup, a member of the House Higher Education Committee has
sponsored House Bill 1768 aimed to build upon and expand existing support
for open educational resources. With the desire to replicate the model used
at UMass Amherst, Stambaugh aims to save students at 4-year institutions in
Washington $70,000 for every $10,000 invested. Read more>>
<http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/community/puyallup-herald/ph-news/article131460059.html>

SECRETARY OF EDUCATION UPDATE: Earlier this week Betsy DeVos was sworn in
as U.S. Secretary of Education, after a contentious confirmation battle in
the Senate. DeVos did not discuss OER during her confirmation hearing,
however she did respond to a written question from Senator Patty Murray
concerning college textbook costs and OER. DeVos’ response: “I will work
with you and your colleagues to explore any remaining issues, including the
question about the proliferation of ‘open textbooks’ during the HEA
reauthorization.” Read more>>
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/01/30/here-are-betsys-devoss-answers-to-139-questions-from-democratic-sen-murray/?utm_term=.f4ceb11d157e>

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: OpenStax and OER Commons will be hosting a webinar on Additional
Faculty OER Resources on February 10th from 3-4 CST.
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6611168084846144769

EVENT: Lansing Community College will be hosting their 2nd OER Summit on
February 24th from 8:30-4. The event is free for all Michigan educators.
http://www.lcc.edu/provost/senate/oer-summit.aspx

EVENT: Apply to attend the Open Education Ontario Summit taking place on
March 27th. Deadline to apply is February 28th. http://onoersummit.com/

EVENT: Registration for #OER17: The Politics of Open is now open! The
conference will take place April 5-6 in London, UK
https://oer17.oerconf.org/#gref

OPPORTUNITY: Interested in contributing a chapter to the upcoming OA book, OER:
A Field Guide for Academic Librarians? Proposals are due February 13th.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/166POxN4vmdlz-Mb91qNMhdgdSNqavexQph_
wGIWl8Hg/edit

JOB: The University of Washington is looking for a Scholarly Publishing
Outreach Librarian. Applications are due February 17th.
http://www.lib.washington.edu/about/employment/librarians/spol2017-01-09

JOB: The Ontario Colleges Library Services is seeking a consultant to build
an OER toolkit for Ontario college faculty and library staff. Applications
are due February 10th. https://www.ocls.ca/sites/
default/files/attachments/RFQ-%20Consultant%20for%20Ontario%
20College%20Libraries%20Open%20Educational%20Resources%20%
28OER%29%20Toolkit_19Jan2017.pdf

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM VIRGINIA: “The cost of textbooks has outpaced just about every other
consumer good, and it’s outpaced even the price of tuition [nationwide],”
said Hillary Miller
<https://www.library.vcu.edu/about/staff/miller-hillary.html>, scholarly
communications outreach librarian with VCU Libraries. “We recognize that
the cost of education is going up, and there’s not a lot that we can do
about that. But one of the most direct ways that libraries and faculty can
affect cost for students is through textbooks and course materials.” Read
more>>
<https://www.library.vcu.edu/about/news/2017/to-ease-students-financial-burden-vcu-offers-faculty-incentives-to-adopt-free-or-low-cost-textbook-alternatives.html>

FROM MISSISSIPPI: “In his first board meeting, Hickman killed an expensive
textbook adoption and made a commitment to #GoOpen. With savings from open
educational resources, CMSD was able to invest in a digital learning
ecosystem across the district--1:1 in high school with Macbooks, 2:1 in
middle school, and 2:1 iPads in elementary.” Read more>>
<http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/on_innovation/2017/01/mississippi_district_personalizes_learning_for_teachers_and_students.html>

TWEET OF THE WEEK

TJ Bliss‏ @tjbliss <https://twitter.com/tjbliss>

What do #educators <https://twitter.com/hashtag/educators?src=hash> like
about #OER <https://twitter.com/hashtag/OER?src=hash>? The #open
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/open?src=hash> content and up-to-date
materials. Watch this video for more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=SX0K0hb_xKE&feature=youtu.be

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads on Education and Open

Letter: Addressing High Textbook Costs | The Cavalier Daily

http://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2017/02/addressing-high-text-book-costs

Of OER and Platforms: Five Years Later | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-01-26-of-oer-and-
platforms-five-years-later

More Colleges Use Open Educational Resources | Community College Daily

http://www.ccdaily.com/Pages/Academic-Programs/More-
colleges-adopt-OER-degrees.aspx

Top Fears Shutting the Door on Open Education | Campus Technology

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/02/01/top-fears-
shutting-the-door-on-open-education.aspx

Digital And Open-source Options Have Advantages Over Books | La Crosse
Tribune

http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/digital-and-open-
source-resources-open-la-crosse-classrooms-to/article_
b986af61-2435-5900-9ed7-e15004aca51b.html

Textbook Costs Are Up, Pushing Academic Progress Down | Pensacola News
Journal

http://www.pnj.com/story/news/education/2017/01/27/textbook-
costs-up-pushing-academic-progress-down/97058418/

How The University of Hawaii Is Solving Today's Higher Ed Problems |
Opensource.com

https://opensource.com/article/17/2/interview-education-billy-meinke

When The Textbook You Need Hasn’t Been Written Yet | NCSU Libraries

https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stories/when-the-textbook-you-
need-hasn%E2%80%99t-been-written-yet

Extreme Makeover: Pedagogy Edition | actualham

http://robinderosa.net/higher-ed/extreme-makeover-pedagogy-edition/

New Tool Arrives for Refining The OER Vetting Process | CCSSO

http://www.ccsso.org/Resources/Programs/OER_Home_/OER_Fellow_Blog.html

Have suggestions for the next edition?

Let us know at oerdigest at gmail.com, or tweet us @OERdigest
<https://twitter.com/oerdigest>.

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