[Open-education] OER Digest - June 1st, 2017

Fri Jun 2 00:31:40 UTC 2017

>From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 32 | June 1st, 2017

With help from Brady Yano (SPARC) and Katie Steen (SPARC)

THE OER DIGEST

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

OPEN LICENSING RULE: After numerous delays, the Department of Education’s
Open Licensing Rule has gone into effect starting on May 22nd. The rule,
finalized earlier this year, ensures that educational resources and other
copyrightable works created with Department discretionary grant funds are
openly licensed. A number of organizations wrote comments in support of
implementing the rule, including this coalition letter.
<https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=ED-2015-OS-0105-0185>

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES: In Connecticut, the Senate passed SB948
<https://www.cga.ct.gov/2017/FC/2017SB-00948-R000375-FC.htm>, which grants
the state Office of Higher Education the authority to establish guidelines
that encourage public and private colleges and universities to implement
programs that reduce the cost of textbooks and other educational resources
for students. In Maryland, Governor Hogan signed SB424
<http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?stab=01&pid=billpage&tab=subject3&ys=2017rs&id=SB0424>,
which provides a $100,000 grant to the University System of Maryland for
their open textbook initiative. In Texas, SB810
<https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/SB810/2017> - which creates a state OER grant
program, establishes protocols for OER course designations in course
catalogs, and orders a statewide feasibility study - has been sent to the
Governor for his signature.

ACROSS THE POND: More than 60 civil society and trade organizations are
calling for the European Union to get copyright reform efforts back on
track. From the letter
<http://copybuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/29May_OpenLetter_Council.pdf>:
“Deliver a reform that is fit for purpose in the digital environment and
that upholds and strengthens fundamental principles such as the rights of
citizens to freedom of communication and access to knowledge”

B&N + UNIZIN: Barnes and Noble recently announced
<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/05/25/barnes-noble-education-gains-foothold-analytics-market-unizin-deal>
a partnership with the campus education consortium Unizin, to provide
LoudCloud - their OER-based learning management system and learning
analytics tools - to Unizin’s 22 member schools, including Penn State,
Colorado State University, University of Michigan and Ohio State
University.

REPORTING BACK: On May 24th-25th BCcampus hosted the 5th Annual Open
Textbook Summit at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC. The Summit had
more than 25 sessions with participation from a variety of Open Education
advocates including faculty, student leaders, university administrators,
librarians, government officials, and nonprofit policy staff. Ryan Merkley
of Creative Commons and Kory Wilson of Aboriginal Initiatives and
Partnerships, British Columbia Institute of Technology keynoted the Summit.
Check out #OTSummit17 <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23OTSummit17&src=typd>
to see more photos and tweets from the Summit!

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

EVENT: The Rebus Community will be discussing accessibility and open
textbooks during their June Office Hours taking place on June 5th at 3pm
EDT. To RSVP, click here
<https://forum.rebus.community/topic/140/office-hours-accessibility-in-open-textbooks-june-5?ct=t(Rebus_Community_Newsletter_May_245_24_2017)&mc_cid=6a98580208&mc_eid=46ff957ef6>
.

EVENT: The UMass Amherst Libraries will host the Northeast Regional OER
Summit June 13-14. Registration is required and can be done here
<https://www.library.umass.edu/services/teaching-and-learning/oer/northeast-oer-summit>
.

OPPORTUNITY: The OER Hub
<http://oerhub.net/open-education-3/developing-models-of-open-online-education/>
is looking for a few more participants to complete their survey on
different models of Open, Online, Flexible and Technology Enhanced Learning
in higher education. To participate, click here
<https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/OOFATGENERAL>.

RESOURCE: Recordings from the Alberta OER Summit that took place on May
11th are available here
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RBt3v5tRR6evuvBJJN63fuhwJKYQMS6RFhGb31qs7Iw/edit>
.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM NEW YORK: “The college has an enrollment of almost 27,000 students,
half of whom have household incomes under $20,000 and 4,000 of whom have
taken one of the classes using OER. Now the school intends to expand the
use of no-cost materials and generate cumulative savings of a million
dollars.” Read More >
<https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/05/24/community-college-leads-oer-efforts-at-cuny.aspx?admgarea=topic.enterprise>

FROM GEORGIA: “Keeping college education affordable is a guiding principle
at Dalton State, and one key way faculty members contribute is by
collaborating to create open educational resources for their students
allowing them to avoid buying costly textbooks for some classes. So far, 10
teams of Dalton State faculty and staff members have sought Affordable
Learning Georgia grants to develop course materials, the second most such
projects in the University System of Georgia. They have received more than
$122 thousand in ALG grant funding to develop materials; cost savings to
students over a three-year period could top $1 million.” Read More >
<http://www.chattanoogan.com/2017/5/24/348648/Open-Source-Textbooks-Contribute-To.aspx>

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Rajiv Jhangiani‏ @thatpsychprof <https://twitter.com/thatpsychprof>
<https://twitter.com/thatpsychprof/status/869987883284934657>

Even the commercial publishers predict that use of #OER as primary
materials will TRIPLE within 5 years #USNHShare https://assets.cengage.com/
pdf/wp_oer-evolving-higher-ed-landscape.pdf <https://t.co/a5c83vydPE>

SYLLABUS

Interesting Reads Relating to Education and Open

OER Pioneer Predicts Community Colleges Will Dump Traditional Textbooks By
2024 | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-05-23-oer-pioneer-david-
wiley-predicts-all-community-colleges-will-dump-
traditional-textbooks-by-2024

OER, Vertical and Horizontal | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/oer-
vertical-and-horizontal

Tech and Costs | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-
community-college-dean/tech-and-costs

Cengage Continues to Show Strong Digital Growth | MENA Financial Network

http://menafn.com/1095527657/Cengage-Continues-to-Show-
Strong-Digital-Growth-Underscoring-Companys-Commitment-to-Affordable-and-
Effective-Learning-Options

Why Pearson shares ‘aren’t good value' | What Investment

http://www.whatinvestment.co.uk/pearson-shares-arent-good-value-2553687/

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