[Open-education] OER Digest- March 8th, 2018

Thu Mar 8 23:07:01 UTC 2018

*From Saman Azimi and Kaitlyn Vitez, U.S. PIRG | Volume 52 | March 8th,
2018*

*With updates from Karen Vaites and Jeremy Smith THE OER DIGESTYour
bi-weekly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and
remindersHAPPY #OEWEEK: from the OER Digest team! It’s been great to see
the many events happening across the globe to promote open education — from
student tables to faculty workshops to regional events. Check out the list
of events around the world at the official Open Education Week
<https://www.openeducationweek.org/> website, or keep up with the latest
coverage under the many permutations of #OEWeek
<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23OEWeek&src=typd> on Twitter.CALL CONGRESS
TODAY: to ask that an open textbooks grant be included in the federal
budget for the current fiscal year, due to be finalized in the next few
days. The budget deal reached last month sets aside $2 billion this year
for “college affordability and completion” initiatives, and we’d like to
see $10 million go to support OER adoption and creation via a short term
federal grant program. Thanks to the OER community’s support, SPARC and
U.S. PIRG delivered letters from libraries
<https://sparcopen.org/news/2018/sparc-calls-congress-fund-open-textbook-grants-fy18/>and
student governments
<https://studentpirgs.org/news/sp/student-government-leaders-unite-call-federal-open-textbook-grant-program>
calling on Congress to fund open textbook grants, and have generated
hundreds of calls to key House and Senate lawmakers. Check out the
twitterstream at #opentextbooksFY18
<https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=opentextbooksfy18&lang=en> or
contact katie at sparcopen.org <katie at sparcopen.org> or kvitez at pirg.org
<kvitez at pirg.org> for more information on how to get involved. *

*CHART-TOPPING CURRICULUM: The second openly-licensed curriculum from Open
Up Resources, EL Education K–5 Language Arts, has just become the top-rated
K-5 ELA curriculum on EdReports
<https://www.edreports.org/ela/expeditionary-learning-2017/index.html>, the
Consumer Reports of K–12 material*s. It’s now the highest-rated elementary
curriculum that they’ve ever reviewed.

*IN THE STATES: Legislation in Iowa
<https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=87&ba=SSB3179> would
require institutions to mark OER in course catalogs. The bill was
recommended favorably by Senate subcommittee, and if passed would make Iowa
the first state in the Midwest to enact this kind of law. A bill in
Washington <http://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1561&Year=2017>
creating a pilot grant program for four-year institutions now heads to the
governor’s desk.DEFINING OPEN: In light of the recent introduction of new
OER-based products by Cengage, Macmillan, and other publishers, there has
been a flurry of blogs on what materials or characteristics can be
considered open. Paul Stacey
<https://medium.com/made-with-creative-commons/good-corporate-citizens-430e4ea7cc9>
reflects on framing good citizenship in the commons, and ISKME, Ed Tech
Strategies, and AAC&U released their “CARE <https://careframework.org/>”
framework for evaluating OER-based courseware as the movement grows:
contribute, attribute, release, and empower. Have your own thoughts on the
topic that you’d like to share? Send them to the OER Digest to be featured
in the next edition!CH-CH-CH-CHANGES: Some major news broke in the
traditional publishing market that OER advocates should know about: Pearson
announced
<https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-02-26-pearson-is-selling-its-us-k-12-business-despite-posting-a-profit-and-digital-growth>
that it is selling its K-12 division despite a rise in profits in the past
fiscal year as it pushes out more digital content. Their K-12 offerings,
mostly traditional textbooks, are out of sync with the publisher’s
 “digital transformation strategy” rebrand as a courseware developer. This
is part of a larger trend of publishers moving away from print towards what
Pearson’s CEO calls the “Spotify” model - streaming digital access without
ownership.GROWING #GOOPEN: The U.S. Department of Education announced a new
partnership
<https://medium.com/@OfficeofEdTech/growing-goopen-u-s-a4e197acb66b> with
the Institute for the Study and of Knowledge and Management in Education
(ISKME) to expand and enhance the #GoOpen network. The partnership will
facilitate the sharing of OER and implementation strategies and integrate
evidence of the efficacy of OER into the broader education policy
dialogue.OPEN CONFERENCESUpcoming Events, Proposal and Registration
Deadlines, Report-Backs  REGISTER: CC’s Global Summit is just over a month
away on April 13-15th in Toronto. Register for the conference before it
sells out: https://summit.creativecommons.org/register2018/
<https://summit.creativecommons.org/register2018/>CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The
#OpenEd18 call for proposals has now opened. Submissions are due by
midnight on Friday, April 6th. Submit here:
https://openedconference.org/2018/call-for-proposals/
<https://openedconference.org/2018/call-for-proposals/>LAST CALL: Regular
registration for OpenStax’s Creator Fest in Houston, TX on April 5th-6th
ends tomorrow. Register here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/openstax-creator-fest-2018-tickets-38510722608
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/openstax-creator-fest-2018-tickets-38510722608>STORIES
FROM THE FIELDQuick snapshots of those making change on the ground level,
and those impactedFROM ILLINOIS: “I pay $30,000 a year to learn from expert
professors and access DePaul amenities, I don’t pay $30,000 a year to then
pay an extra hundred dollars to have my professors pawn their work off to a
third rate, for-profit company.” Read more >
<http://depauliaonline.com/33090/news/textbook-publishers-find-new-ways-to-squeeze-students/>FROM
MASSACHUSETTS: “I avoid buying textbooks at all costs,” said one student in
UMass’s latest mini-documentary on their OER initiatives. The video
features student and faculty testimonials. Watch more>
<https://youtu.be/XU688XuY_aM>FROM IOWA: “Students could potentially save
$3,000 over the course of their Liberal Arts degree. Textbooks are becoming
unaffordable for our students, so we decided to use a different approach.”
Read More >
<http://www.kcrg.com/content/news/NICC-program-to-reduce-textbook-costs-for-students-476012463.html>
HOT OFF THE PRESSEach edition, we’ll highlight an interesting, new,
openly-licensed resource From Rebecca Morales and Alesha Baker comes an
article in the Journal of Interactive Media in Education titled “Secondary
Students’ Perceptions of Open Science Textbooks.”
<https://www-jime.open.ac.uk/articles/10.5334/jime.455/> The article, which
explores the perceptions of 6th-8th graders in a suburban public school,
includes findings that students’ perceptions of an open textbook in place
of a standard textbook are improving students’ attitudes and behaviors
toward learning.WEIGH INInteresting Discussions and Strategic Reads to
Repost or Share Great to Share >> A Guide to Good OER Stewardship | Inside
Higher Ed
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/03/05/advocates-develop-framework-stewardship-open-educational
<https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/03/05/advocates-develop-framework-stewardship-open-educational>How
OER can help overcome the higher education equity barrier |
EdScoophttps://edscoop.com/how-open-education-resources-can-help-overcome-the-higher-education-equity-barrier
<https://edscoop.com/how-open-education-resources-can-help-overcome-the-higher-education-equity-barrier>
Interesting to Consider >> ‘One and Done’ Model of Higher Ed is in the Past
| Education
Divehttps://www.educationdive.com/news/one-and-done-model-of-higher-ed-is-in-the-past/517801/
<https://www.educationdive.com/news/one-and-done-model-of-higher-ed-is-in-the-past/517801/>
The Future of Educational Publishers | eLearning Industry
https://elearningindustry.com/future-of-educational-publishers
<https://elearningindustry.com/future-of-educational-publishers> Five
Examples of How Higher Education is Changing with Technology | Business &
Financehttps://businessandfinance.com/guest-blog-five-examples-higher-education-changing-with-technology/
<https://businessandfinance.com/guest-blog-five-examples-higher-education-changing-with-technology/>Have
suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest at gmail.com
<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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