[Open-education] OER Digest - February 23rd, 2017

Thu Feb 23 23:29:58 UTC 2017

>From Katie Steen (USPIRG) | Volume 25 | February 23rd, 2017

With help from Brady Yano (SPARC)

THE OER DIGEST

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

UMASS SURVEY: The UMass Amherst Libraries’ Scholarly Communication office
recently surveyed undergraduate students enrolled in classes participating
in the Open Education Initiative (OEI). The survey found that 59% of
students do not buy assigned textbooks and want alternatives to high cost
textbooks. Read more>>
<http://www.infodocket.com/2017/02/08/umass-amherst-libraries-releases-results-of-open-education-survey/>

STATE LEGISLATION UPDATE: A new bill proposed by Maryland state Sen. Jim
Rosapepe titled the Textbook Cost Savings Act of 2017 would provide a
$100,000 grant to promote the use of OER at the state system's 12
institutions. The funding would support the Maryland Open Source Textbook
Initiative, a program that has saved students over $1 million through the
use of OER since 2013. Read more>>
<http://www.dbknews.com/2017/02/13/usm-open-source-textbook/>

OEC AWARDS: The Open Education Consortium announced the 2017 winners
of the Open
Education Awards for Excellence
<http://www.oeconsortium.org/projects/open-education-awards-for-excellence/>,
an award recognizing the outstanding contributions in the Open Education
community. These awards recognize distinctive Open Educational Resources,
Open Projects & Initiatives, as well as exemplary leaders in Open Education
worldwide.To see the full list of OER & Project Award winners, click here
<http://www.oeconsortium.org/2017/02/the-oec-is-honored-to-present-the-2017-winners-of-oer-project-awards-for-open-education-excellence/>
.

OER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: K12 educators now have access to professional
development OER, aimed at training educators to better deliver a STEM
education. The "Advancing Coherent and Equitable Systems of Science
Education" (ACESSE) project is a partnership between the Council of State
Science Supervisors <http://www.csss-science.org/> and the University of
Colorado Boulder <http://www.colorado.edu/education/> and University of
Washington <https://education.washington.edu/> schools of education and has
been funded by a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Science
Foundation <https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1561300>. The
training is aimed at increasing diversity in STEM fields by improving
access to a quality K-12 STEM education that is more coherent and
nationally aligned. Read more>>
<https://thejournal.com/articles/2017/02/14/ngss-gets-oer-pd-for-making-science-accessible.aspx>

GROWING COLLECTION: BCcampus has added five new open textbooks to their
collection, bringing the Open Textbook Project collection to 173
materials. Read
more>>
<https://open.bccampus.ca/2017/02/09/5-new-textbooks-in-the-bc-open-textbook-collection/>

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

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

EVENT: OpenStax will be hosting an American Government webinar on Monday,
February 27, 11-12 pm CST. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/
5351275093797681410

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

JOB: Penn State Libraries are looking for an Open Education Librarian.
Reviewal of applications will begin on February 28th.
https://libraries.psu.edu/openeducationlibr

JOB: CU Boulder Libraries are looking for a Scholarly Communication
Librarian. Applications are due March 5th. http://www.colorado.edu/
libraries/jobs-opportunities/scholarly-communication-librarian

SURVEY: Please consider taking part in a new research collaboration between
the Open Education Research Hub (OER Hub <http://oerhub.net/>) and
Forschungsinstitut für Bildungs- und Sozialökonomie (FIBS
<http://www.fibs.eu/en/index.htm>) funded by the International Council for
Open and Distance Education (ICDE <http://www.icde.org/>).
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/OOFATOERDIGEST

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM CONNECTICUT: “Undergraduate Student Government has worked extensively
to expand access to open educational resources as well, according to
Student Body President Daniel Byrd. USG financially supported the
development of an open access chemistry textbook, he said. “USG paid and
got credit for it in the book,” Byrd said. “About 2,000 students between
last semester and this semester have used it.”” Read more>>
<http://dailycampus.com/stories/2017/2/10/open-educational-resources-receive-support-from-several-uconn-groups>

FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA: “Open textbooks not only help alleviate financial
stress for students, but also often improve the quality of course content,”
said Doering. “Since open textbooks allow instructors to customize
materials for their course, they can move away from the more traditional
method of teaching chapter-by-chapter, which results in a more engaging
classroom experience.” Read more>>
<https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2017AVED0015-000281>

FROM NEW JERSEY: “I am excited to report that the pilot phase of the Open
and Affordable Textbook (OAT) grants has concluded,” said Lily Todorinova,
the director of the OAT program and the school’s Undergraduate Experience
Librarian. “Thanks to the generosity of the Office of Information
Technology and the library, we were able to award 32 individual grants.” Read
more>>
<http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/education/college/rutgers/2017/02/21/rutgers-njpirg-announce-awarding-32-textbook-grants/98197864/>

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Elise Bordeau @MrsBordeau <https://twitter.com/MrsBourdeau>

Students engaging and talking about how to make textbooks more affordable
on our campuses #mnstate <https://twitter.com/hashtag/mnstate?src=hash> #OER
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/OER?src=hash> #februarydelegates
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/februarydelegates?src=hash> @Students7United
<https://twitter.com/Students7United>

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads on Education and Open

7 Musts For Digital and OER Course Materials | eCampus News

http://www.ecampusnews.com/curriculum/musts-digital-course-materials/

7 Trends To Expect From Social Learning In 2017 | eLearning Industry

https://elearningindustry.com/7-trends-expect-social-learning-in-2017

Are Elite Universities Committed to Openness? | New America

https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/
are-elite-universities-committed-openness/

Are Textbooks In Or Out? The State of Open Educational Resources |
opensource.com

https://opensource.com/article/17/2/future-textbooks-
cable-green-creative-commons

Fewer text books = less expense for students at SLCC | KATC.com

http://www.katc.com/story/34489394/fewer-text-books-
less-expense-for-students-at-slcc

Is the Average Cost of a Textbook $100? | Open Oregon

http://openoregon.org/is-the-average-cost-of-a-textbook-100/

OER’s Road Ahead is Paved with Publisher Platforms | From the Bell Tower |
LibraryJournal

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2017/02/opinion/steven-bell/
oers-road-ahead-is-paved-with-publisher-platforms-from-the-bell-tower/#_

SBCC Launches Textbook Affordability Program | The Channels

http://www.thechannels.org/news/2017/02/13/sbcc-launches-
textbook-affordability-program/

What Students Can Learn By Writing For Wikipedia | nprEd

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/02/22/515244025/what-
students-can-learn-by-writing-for-wikipedia?utm_campaign=
storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

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