[Open-education] OER Digest - March 22nd, 2018

Thu Mar 22 21:48:41 UTC 2018

>From Katie Steen (SPARC) | Volume 53 | March 23rd, 2018

With updates from Kaitlyn Vitez

THE OER DIGEST

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

VICTORY: In a landmark win for the OER community, the U.S. Congress
included $5 million for an open textbook grant
<https://sparcopen.org/news/2018/open-textbooks-fy18/> program in the FY18
federal appropriations package that was released late last night. The grant
program will be administered by the Department of Education and will
support projects at institutions of higher educations that create or expand
the use of open textbooks. SPARC
<https://sparcopen.org/news/2018/sparc-calls-congress-fund-open-textbook-grants-fy18/>and
U.S. PIRG
<https://studentpirgs.org/news/sp/student-government-leaders-unite-call-federal-open-textbook-grant-program>
worked over the past three weeks to rally students, librarians, and OER
champions to call and tweet Congress. This is the first time the U.S.
Congress moved to fund open textbooks and is the result of nearly a decade
of advocacy. The bill passed the House this afternoon and is expected to be
signed into law before the end of the week. Join us in celebrating the
victory on twitter by quote retweeting this tweet
<https://twitter.com/OERdigest/status/976933751107342338>.

#OEWEEK HIGHLIGHTS: During Open Education week, OER advocates hosted and
participated in events across the country. We’ve included a few highlights
below:

   -

   SXSWedu: Leaders from OpenStax, SPARC, the U.S. Department of Education,
   and the Ohio State University participated in a panel at SXSWedu
   <https://edscoop.com/how-open-education-resources-can-help-overcome-the-higher-education-equity-barrier>
   on OER and Equity
   -

   Creative Commons: The CC Global Network hosted a timezone-spanning
   24-hour webinar <http://jennihayman.com/oeweek-24-hour-web-a-thon/> on
   OER
   -

   Missouri: the University of Missouri System hosted a state-wide Affordable
   and OER Summit <https://twitter.com/umsystem/status/971767648878030849>
   to discuss best practices and opportunities for collective action on OER
   -

   Hawaii: The University of Hawaii hosted an event
   <http://oer.hawaii.edu/faculty-insights-pedagogical-innovation-and-the-power-of-oer-on-stage-for-oeweek>with
   KPU’s Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani on OER and open pedagogy

Check out other highlights from #OEweek
<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23oeweek&src=typd> on Twitter or tweet yours
at us and the OER Digest will RT them!

CAMPUS SAVINGS: Georgia Highlands College (GHC) has saved students over $6M
<https://www.highlands.edu/2018/03/12/ghc-saves-students-6-million-free-textbooks/>
by eliminating textbook costs through OER. GHC’s OER efforts are supported
by the Affordable Learning Georgia
<https://www.affordablelearninggeorgia.org/> initiative, a state-wide
program that helps faculty adopt and create OER for their courses. Other
shoutouts to CSU Channel Islands
<http://www.vcstar.com/story/opinion/columnists/2018/03/10/channel-islands-blazes-trail-cut-textbook-costs/412324002/>,
CU Boulder,
<https://www.colorado.edu/today/2018/03/19/provost-seeks-nominations-open-educational-resources-advisory-committee>
UC-San
Diego
<http://ucsdguardian.org/2018/03/11/s-senate-passes-resolution-make-textbooks-affordable/>,
and Rutgers
<http://www.dailytargum.com/article/2018/03/rutgers-grant-creates-collaborative-learning-material-for-less-curated-by-students-and-faculty>
for making the news!

PRESIDENTS ON OER: A new survey
<https://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/survey-college-presidents-finds-worry-about-public-attitudes-confidence-finances>
by Insider Higher Ed asked college and university presidents about their
views on a host of higher education issues including OER and course
materials. 61 percent agreed that textbooks and course materials cost too
much while 85 percent agreed that institutions should embrace OER. Some of
the phrasing in the survey questions caused concern in the OER community
because they imply a lack of quality among OER.

OE AWARDS: The Open Education Consortium announced its 2018 OE Award
Winners of Open Resources, Tools, and Practices. These awards recognize
outstanding contributions to the Open Education community. Check out the
Open Education Consortium website
<http://www.oeconsortium.org/2018/03/oec-announces-the-2018-oe-award-winners-of-open-resources-tools-practices/>
to learn more about the 12 awardees!

SIGNING OFF (from Digest co-author Katie Steen): At the end of next week I
will be transitioning out of my role at SPARC and starting a new position
on the policy team at the Association of American Universities (AAU). Thank
you to everyone in the OER community for being wonderful colleagues and
mentors, especially Nicole Allen. You can reach me on twitter at
@katiesteen627 <https://twitter.com/katiesteen627>.

OPEN CONFERENCES

Upcoming 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: https://summit.creativecommons.org/
register2018/

*REGISTER: The Teaching and Learning Today conference is May 1st-2nd at the
University of Saskatchewan. Register for the conference here:
https://teaching.usask.ca/tlt2018/ <https://teaching.usask.ca/tlt2018/>*

REGISTER: BCcampus’ Festival of Learning is May 28-30th in Vancouver.
Register for the conference here: https://bccampus.ca/festival-
of-learning-2018/

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Northeast Regional OER Summit call for proposals
and registration is now open. Proposals are due by Wednesday, April 4th.
Submit and register here: https://www.library.umass.edu/
services/teaching-and-learning/oer/northeast-oer-summit/

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/

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM CALIFORNIA:  “This event is about providing awareness for students on
how to access and find Alamo Open courses. We’re hoping that they can see
in writing what they spend in a semester on textbooks and what they would
do with that money.” Read more>>
<http://theranger.org/2018/03/15/event-shows-students-benefits-of-open-educational-resources/>

FROM VIRGINIA: “Greenlaw’s open textbook, Principles of Economics, has been
used by 152,722 students since it was published in 2014, according to the
open textbook publisher OpenStax. That represents a $15 million savings,
about $98 per book. For some students, those savings make all the
difference in their academic success.” Read more>>
<http://www.umw.edu/news/2018/03/20/umw-professors-transform-education-with-open-textbooks/>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

An update for an existing OER: the popular, collaboratively written American
Yawp will be available in print
<https://www.utdallas.edu/news/2018/3/22-32885_History-Professor-Challenges-High-Textbook-Prices-_story-wide.html?WT.mc_id=NewsHomePage>
from Stanford University Press in August. “We’re pleased that this resource
is being utilized in classrooms all over the country,” said the Yawp’s
editor, Dr. Ben Wright. “We believe our collaborative process makes our
content stronger than traditional texts, and hopefully it provides a break
for students trying to reach graduation without burdensome debt.”

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Feds Pick California Nonprofit as Partner on Open Educational Resources
Project | Ed Week

https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/feds-
pick-california-nonprofit-partner-open-educational-resources-project/

New Boost for Student Aid and Research | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/03/22/omnibus-
spending-package-boosts-student-aid-while-restricting-devos-priorities

Interesting to Consider >>

How to Sort the Good from the Bad in OER | The Hechinger Report

*http://hechingerreport.org/how-to-sort-the-good-from-the-bad-in-oer/
<http://hechingerreport.org/how-to-sort-the-good-from-the-bad-in-oer/>*

*MERLOT Updated for Mobile OER Hunting | Campus Technology *

*https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/03/15/merlot-updated-for-mobile-oer-hunting.aspx
<https://campustechnology.com/articles/2018/03/15/merlot-updated-for-mobile-oer-hunting.aspx>*

*101 Partners with OpenStax to Deliver More Affordable and Engaging Course
Materials for College STEM Students | Cision*

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/101-partners-
with-openstax-to-deliver-more-affordable-and-engaging-
course-materials-for-college-stem-students-300613681.html

*The Detroit school district has been using a curriculum that’s ‘an
injustice to the children of Detroit’ — but it’s not alone | Chalkbeat *

https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/detroit/2018/03/08/the-
detroit-school-district-has-been-using-a-curriculum-thats-
an-injustice-to-the-children-of-detroit-but-its-not-alone/

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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