[Open-education] OER Digest - January 11th, 2018

Thu Jan 11 20:53:45 UTC 2018

>From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 48 | January 11th, 2018

With updates from Nicole Allen, Cheryl Cuillier, and Karen Lauritsen

THE OER DIGEST

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

CHEERS TO 2018: As we kick off the new year, the Digest team just wants to
express a quick word of thanks to our readers. Send us your predictions,
blogs, or other reflections for 2018 at oerdigest at gmail.com or @oerdigest
<https://twitter.com/oerdigest> and we might include them in the next
edition!

HITTING A GROOVE: If the first couple weeks of this month are any
indication, the OER community seems to be heading for a banner year. Check
out some of the most recent headlines from articles featuring OER:

   -

   Inside Higher Ed: The Truth (About OER) Is Out There
   <http://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/01/10/finding-oer-remains-challenging-solutions-abound>
   -

   Chronicle of Higher Education: Use of Free Textbooks Is Rising, but
   Barriers Remain
   <https://www.chronicle.com/article/Use-of-Free-Textbooks-Is/242086>
   -

   Inside Higher Ed: OER Adoptions on the Rise
   <https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/12/19/more-faculty-members-are-using-oer-survey-finds#.WlLZ4K1GWEM.twitter>
   -

   EdSurge: As Campuses Move to Embrace OER, College Libraries Become Key
   Players
   <https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-01-04-as-campuses-move-to-embrace-oer-college-libraries-become-key-players>
   -

   EdSurge: OER Had Its Breakthrough in 2017. Next Year, It Will Become an
   Essential Teaching Tool
   <https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-12-28-oer-had-its-breakthrough-in-2017-next-year-it-will-become-an-essential-teaching-tool>

BREAKING, FROM CA: California Governor Jerry Brown proposed a new, public,
online community college
<http://doingwhatmatters.cccco.edu/portals/6/docs/OCC/Online%20College%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf>
for the state as a means to improve economic mobility and prepare the
workforce for a changing job market. As part of the proposal, the college
will leverage OER and “z-degree courses” to keep the cost of attendance as
low as possible. More details are expected in coming weeks.

IN OTHER STATES: A host of legislators in Virginia, Washington, New York,
Mississippi, and Indiana introduced bills around access to- and cost of-
course materials this past week, including many provisions around OER. The
Digest will be following these, and other bills, as they proceed.

BIG NUMBERS: So far in 2018, institutions are putting big numbers on the
board - Pierce College announced
<https://www.pierce.ctc.edu/news/20180105/pierce-college-program-saves-students-1-million-textbook-costs>
last week that they crossed the $1 million mark in student savings from
OER, and the University System of Maryland’s annual scorecard revealed
<http://www.usmd.edu/usm/2017USMScorecard.pdf> $1.6 million in savings for
their students. In a different vein, UMUC hit record enrollment
<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/01/08/has-umuc-turned-enrollment-woes-around>
last year after years of struggling to maintain existing levels - and they
credit their switch to OER as a major factor in the improvement. They’ve
also seen increased retention, and dropped their average ‘books and
supplies’ cost to zero. Additionally, Wiki Education announced
<https://wikiedu.org/blog/2018/01/08/sustaining-the-impact-of-the-year-of-science/>
that their programs had added more than 7.68 million words of science
content to the open online encyclopedia.

10 YEARS: January 22, 2018 marks the official 10 year anniversary
<http://www.capetowndeclaration.org/cpt10/> of the publication of the Cape
Town Open Education Declaration. Consider marking the occasion on the 22nd
with a blog post on your predictions for the next 10 years or join in on
social media with #CPT10.

NEW EFFORT: Late last year, the Open Textbook Network announced
<http://research.cehd.umn.edu/otn/open-textbook-network-launches-the-publishing-cooperative-to-support-open-education-expansion/>
the creation of The Publishing Cooperative, a group of institutions working
together to “establish publishing infrastructure, processes, and community
to expand the development of open textbook publishing in higher education.”
Their goal is publish two dozen CC-BY textbooks by 2020.

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, April 13-15th. Register here:
https://summit.creativecommons.org/register2018/

REGISTER: The 2018 OE Global Conference take place in Delft, The
Netherlands on April 24-26th. Register here:
https://conference.oeconsortium.org/2018/registration/

REGISTER, TAKE 2: The Florida OER Summit takes place next month, February
7-8th, after it was postponed due to Hurricane Irma last year. Registration
is open now, here: https://www.flvc.org/oersummit-registration

REGISTER: The Library Collective is hosting a conference February 28-March
2nd in Tennessee. Register here by February 1st:
http://www.thelibrarycollective.org

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM PENNSYLVANIA K-12: “It really is a grassroots effort,” he says. “It’s
not a top-down [situation], where we have to submit resources to the state
level or the intermediate unit level to be approved. … Instead, it starts
at the district level where teachers, who are the best evaluators of the
content that they’re utilizing in the classroom, can begin that process.” Read
More >
<http://edscoop.com/tv-radio/in-pennsylvania-oer-is-a-grassroots-effort-jared-mader>

FROM PENNSYLVANIA HIGHER ED: The resolution cited the Office of Admissions
and Financial Aid, which recommends students prepare to pay $772 for
textbooks for the 2017-2018 school year. “That cost, that’s someone’s rent.
That’s someone’s grocery money for the entire semester,” Patel said. “That
impacts the students way more than people really see.” Read More >
<https://pittnews.com/article/126100/featured/sgb-calls-textbook-cost-reduction/>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

The Public Data Lab released under CC-BY A Field Guide on “Fake News”
<http://fakenews.publicdatalab.org/> - exploring the best ways to identify
and fake news and verify real stories. The authors are also attempting to
build the guide out into a full textbook as well.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

To combat soaring textbook costs, look to an open-source approach | The
Globe and Mail

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/to-combat-soaring-textbook-costs-look-to-an-open-source-approach/article37477566/

Interesting to Consider >>

How OER Can Help Low-Income School Districts | Kajeet.net

http://www.kajeet.net/extracurricular/how-oer-can-help-low-income-school-districts

As Textbook Companies Try New Options, Many Students Say Price Is Biggest
Factor | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-01-09-as-textbook-companies-try-new-options-many-students-say-price-is-biggest-factor

White Paper on Open Educational Resources | Ontario Council of University
Libraries

https://ocul.on.ca/node/6820

Highlights From a Year of Tracking Future Trends in Education | EdSurge

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-12-22-highlights-from-a-year-of-tracking-future-trends-in-education

Districts to watch in 2018 | Education Dive

https://www.educationdive.com/news/districts-to-watch-in-2018/513734/

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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