[Open-education] OER Digest April 4th 2019

Fri Apr 5 01:11:28 UTC 2019

Volume 78

>From Cailyn Nagle (USPIRG) | Volume 78 | April 4th, 2019

THE OER DIGEST

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

FEDERAL UPDATE: The Affordable Textbook Act
<https://sparcopen.org/our-work/affordable-college-textbook-act/> was
reintroduced Thursday by Senator Durbin, King, Smith, and Senima and
Representative Neguse. If passed, the act will provide permanent
authorization for an open textbook grant program to support the creation
and expansion of open textbook programs. The act also includes language
requiring higher education institutions to include information about OER in
course schedules, which will allow students to make more informed
decisions, and codifies strong definitions of OER and open licensing. Learn
more by checking out statements from SPARC
<https://sparcopen.org/news/2019/affordable-college-textbook-act-reintroduced-congress/>
and U.S. PIRG
<https://uspirg.org/news/usp/affordable-college-textbook-act-could-save-students-millions-pricey-books>,
two leading advocacy groups supporting this legislation.

STATE UPDATES: A327 <https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bills/BillView.asp>
which requires New Jersey colleges and universities to expand the use of
digital alternatives to textbooks and create a plan for expanding open
textbooks, heads to the Governor's desk after it was passed unanimously
through the NJ State Assembly and Senate. Minnesota’s SF616
<https://www.senate.mn/journals/2019-2020/2019012807.pdf#page=25>
authorizes additional financial aid to cover the costs of textbooks and
equipment. Texas strengthened an existing bill with HB3836
<https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/86R/billtext/pdf/HB03836I.pdf#navpanes=0>
which now requires school districts and open enrollment charter schools to
consider open educational resources. Several other bills relating to OER
were heard in the state’s higher education committee but votes were
postponed. West Virginia’s HB2853
<http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb2853%20intr.htm&yr=2019&sesstype=RS&i=2853>,
which creates a program to encourage OER use in both higher ed and K-12,
has been signed into law by the governor.

NEW DATA: A new working paper
<http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/Documents/areas/fac/policy/SchmittShi_SecondaryMarkets_09102018.pdf>
from the UCLA Anderson School of Business suggests that publishing
companies stand to increase profits by up to 46% if they’re able to
effectively kill the used textbook market. Outside of creating new
editions, which happen within six to eight semesters of creating a new
book, other tactics cited include loose leaf, rental, and digital copies.

INCLUSIVE ACCESS: Students at UNC Chapel Hill successfully pushed back
<https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2019/04/pearson-textbook-prices-04>
on the school’s plan to implement a new inclusive access program with
Pearson. This semester students within the Undergraduate Student Government
and NCPIRG have focused on gathering grassroots support from students and
faculty in the form of student petitions, faculty and librarian statements
of support, letters to the editor,
<https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2019/03/letter-to-the-editor-pearson-education-0228>
and a student government resolution.
<https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2019/04/pearson-textbook-prices-0401>

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

OPPORTUNITY: Creative Commons is looking for a K12 Partnerships and
Training Manager to craft and execute outreach and policy strategies
bringing OER to k-12 classrooms. Learn more and submit your application
here.
<https://creativecommonsusa.org/index.php/2019/03/27/were-hiring-k12-partnerships-and-training-manager/>

OPPORTUNITY: Central New Mexico’s Community College is looking for a new
open education resource course designer to work with faculty to create and
redesign courses to use open materials. Learn more and submit your
application here.
<https://cnm.csod.com/ats/careersite/JobDetails.aspx?id=600&site=5>

OPPORTUNITY: OpenStax has opened applications for their Institutional
Partnership Program. Institutions who participate in their program have
seen a 158% increase in the number of students impacted by OER.
Applications are due April 30th.  Learn more and apply here
<https://openstax.org/institutional-partnership>.

OPPORTUNITY: The Penn State University Libraries is looking for two
applicants in the Diversity Residency Librarian program. Learn more and
apply here. <https://libraries.psu.edu/diversityresident>

REGISTER: You can register for the Northeast OER Summit here
<https://neoer.umasscreate.net/conferences/2019-2/>, on May 22nd-23rd in
Amherst, MA.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM CALIFORNIA: Skyline Community College’s OER and ZTC program began in
2016 and has grown to offering 128 classes in the program during the 2019
semester. “Since Spring 2018 through Spring 2019, there have been 7,418
student enrollments in ZTC and OER class section with savings of
$1,1126,036.73... Skyline offered 128 classes with ZTC & OER Programs.”
Read more here>
<https://www.theskylineview.com/news/2019/03/22/zero-textbook-classes-open-educational-doors/>

FROM OREGON: A close vote at Lane Community College delays outsourcing of
the campus bookstore to Barnes and Noble over concerns of potential harm to
the school's OER program. LCC’s Open Educational Resource Librarian, Maggie
Wright, spoke at the meeting to highlight how similar outsourcing at
Clackamas Community College damaged the OER program at the school.  Read
more here> <https://www.eugeneweekly.com/2019/03/21/march-budget-madness/>

FROM TEXAS: Panola College Faculty Association created a timeline to switch
over the classes that are prerequisites for a bachelor's degree from
traditional to open materials. “Panola College students working toward an
academic associate degree could see savings of more than $1,000 beginning
in fall 2019, as a result of an effort to use no-cost or low-cost Open
Education Resources (OER) instead of traditional textbooks.” Read more
here>
<https://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/news/panola-college-reduces-student-textbook-costs/article_7457897f-eed9-553d-b466-ccaff45951cf.html>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

University of Saskatchewan released Sharing Our Knowledge: Best Practices
for Supporting English Language Learners in Schools
<https://openpress.usask.ca/ealbestpractices/>, a collection providing
preK-12 educators with best practices and research on supporting English
language learners and insight into the cultures and languages represented
in classrooms today.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

GHC named No. 6 in country for saving students money on textbooks l The
Daily Tribune

http://www.daily-tribune.com/stories/ghc-named-no-6-in-country-for-saving-students-money-on-textbooks,21731

This KPU professor brought open-education advocacy all the way to the UN l
University Affairs

https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/this-kpu-professor-brought-open-education-advocacy-all-the-way-to-the-un/

Interesting to Consider >>

Survey: Most Students Shop on Amazon to Save Money on Textbooks |
CampusTechnology

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2019/03/27/survey-most-students-shop-on-amazon-to-save-money-on-textbooks.aspx

The Corporations Devouring American Colleges | Huffington Post

https://www.huffpost.com/highline/article/capitalist-takeover-college/

Is it time to say goodbye to textbooks? | eSchool News

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2019/03/22/time-say-goodbye-textbooks/

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>.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/open-education/attachments/20190404/0e3dcee6/attachment-0001.html>