[Open-education] OER Digest - October 26th, 2018

Fri Oct 26 14:55:26 UTC 2018

>From Ethan Senack, Creative Commons USA | Volume 68 | October 26th, 2018

With updates from Sarah Sweeney and Mo Nyamweya

THE OER DIGEST

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

HAPPY OPEN ACCESS WEEK: Around the world, advocates are celebrating open
access <http://www.openaccessweek.org/> to research, educational materials
and other information, under this year’s theme, “Designing Equitable
Foundations for Open Knowledge.” Many institutions and organizations are
hosting events; one major highlight being an OpenCon satellite event at the
United Nations <https://www.opencon2018.org/un>, where speakers from the
World Bank, UNESCO, and WIPO joined open advocates from around the world to
discuss the relationship between openness and the UN’s sustainable
development goals. See more on Twitter.
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/OpenConUN?src=hash>

REFLECTING: Achieving the Dream recently published a new report
<https://www.achievingthedream.org/resource/17507/participant-experiences-and-financial-impacts-findings-from-year-2-of-achieving-the-dream-s-oer-degree-initiative>-back
on their OER initiative at 38 college campuses, analyzing the academic and
economic outcomes of increased OER use, as well as challenges of
implementation. Some interesting finding include:

   -

   The cost of traditional textbooks is a burden for students and can
   account for up to 80% of the cost of college attendance for Pell or other
   grant aid recipients.
   -

   While only 12% of students reported that they have withdrawn from a
   course because they could not afford required materials, 41% responded that
   OER courses have a significant impact on their ability to afford college.
   -

   Although 62% responded on the survey that access to technology and/or
   the internet impacts their ability to complete coursework, fewer than 10%
   cited this as a challenge for OER courses.

ADD TO WATCHLIST: A new video series from ISTE and New America dives in on
OER implementation in PreK-12 settings, interviewing state and district
leaders, covering everything from “Changing Educator Perspectives on OER”
to “OER Sustainability Models”. The series is available here.
<https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6aVN_9hcQEHv5yD9oW104ZWAskZQ5TSu>

CAMPUSES OUT FRONT: A host of campuses made headlines this week for their
OER work, from University of Missouri - Kansas City
<https://info.umkc.edu/umatters/oer-awareness-week/>, Mount Wachusett
Community College
<http://www.mountobserver.com/2018/10/open-educational-resources-eliminating-textbook-costs/>,
Los Angeles Pierce College <http://theroundupnews.com/2018/10/24/2620185/>,
and Valdosta State University
<https://www.valdosta.edu/about/news/releases/2018/10/vsu-pushes-to-reduce-the-cost-of-textbooks.php>
reporting back on their campus adoption initiatives, to the University
System of Maryland <https://www.usmd.edu/newsroom/news/1842>’s new OER
grant, and a Virginia Tech
<https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2018/10/univlib-electromagnetics-text.html>
open textbook gaining steam. Students at MSU McMaster
<https://www.thesil.ca/msu-mcmaster-budget-submission-making-a-comeback>
and at Bay College
<http://www.dailypress.net/news/local-news/2018/10/bay-holds-free-the-textbooks-rally/>
also made news for their OER efforts. (Don’t see your campus news story
listed here? Send us an email at oerdigest at gmail.com.)

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

REGISTER: Indiana is hosting a #GoOpen Summit in January of 2019.
Registration is open here
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfALL6joHkLQ4WSe1w5DCp_AXltzAXVgoJa5YbpBEjyADrxVQ/viewform>
.

PROPOSALS: The call for proposals for sessions at the Library Publishing
Forum in Vancouver is now open <https://librarypublishing.org/program/>.
The conference will be held May 8-10th of 2019.

PROPOSALS: Organizers of the OER19 conference in Galway, Ireland on April
10-11th, 2019, have opened <https://oer19.oerconf.org/#gref> up their call
for proposals.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM CALIFORNIA: “Compared to what I spent on course materials in previous
quarters, $387 is not much… This does not include “class fees,” which are
supplemental charges made to a student’s bill when they take a class in
physical education ($35), music ($250) and studio art ($50-100), to name a
few... Here comes at least a partial answer to the question: “Why do we see
a lack of socio-economic diversity in the arts?” There are financial
barriers — both in the cost of textbooks and in the supplemental charges
some classes carry — to pursuing music and visual arts here. Quarter after
quarter, it adds up.This is especially true for students who have to send
money back home to support their families — something not uncommon in the
low-income community on campus. In addition to managing a full course load,
these students balance their schedule with one or more jobs so that they
are able to provide for their families. Each dollar matters.” Read More >
<https://www.stanforddaily.com/2018/10/08/me-asl-stanford-must-lower-the-cost-of-textbooks/>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

An OER working group with participants from UT Libraries, Texas Digital
Library, and COERLL published a series of talking points, sample outreach
materials, and other tools broken down by particular audiences - students,
faculty, administrators, and more. Check out “Talkin’ ‘Bout OER” here
<https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/69099>.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

OER promotes student success | Community College Daily

http://www.ccdaily.com/2018/10/oer-promotes-student-success/

Interesting to Consider >>

A Message to College Leaders: Don’t Overlook Resources Right Under Your Nose
| Chronicle of Higher Education

https://www.chronicle.com/article/A-Message-to-College-Leaders-/244879/

OER Is Growing At Religious Colleges, But Raises Unique Challenges |
EdSurge
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-10-24-oer-is-growing-at-religious-colleges-but-raises-unique-challenges

Introduction to Open Education: Towards a Human Rights Theory | IJOER

https://www.ijoer.org/introduction-to-open-education-towards-a-human-rights-theory/

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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