[Open-education] OER Digest - January 24, 2019

[OER Digest]

>From Mo Nyamweya, SPARC | Volume 73 | January 24th, 2019

With updates from Nicole Allen

THE OER DIGEST

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


STATE POLICY UPDATES: State legislatures are off to a start across the
country, with numerous states introducing legislation on OER and related
issues. Oregon
<https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/HB2213> and
Virginia <http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+HB2380> are
considering a bills to require marking OER or low-cost materials in course
schedules. Hawaii
<https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=932&year=2019>
and Massachusetts <https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/SD123> have
introduced bills concerning OER taskforces. Meanwhile, Minnesota
<https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=Senate&f=SF0130&ssn=0&y=2019&keyword_type=exact&keyword=open+educational+resources>
is considering a far-reaching bill to set textbook affordability targets.

PUBLISHER PARTNERSHIP: Education publishing giant McGraw-Hill Education
recently finalized a partnership with Illustrative Mathematics
<https://www.illustrativemathematics.org/>, an organization that creates
open math curriculum for K-12 use. The partnership is another sign that
interest in OER continues to grow among traditional industry players.
Illustrative Mathematics CEO Lisa O’Masta says that the partnership will
leverage McGraw-Hill’s sales team to expand the reach of their open
curriculum. Read more >
<https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/mcgraw-hill-education-strikes-far-reaching-deal-with-open-education-curriculum-provider/>

LANGUAGE OER NETWORK: COERLL has introduced the Language OER Network
<https://community.coerll.utexas.edu/>, a new system to showcase the work
of open educators in the field of language learning and teaching. Language
educators who use, create, or promote OER can now request to be listed on
the LOERN page and will be given a COERLL digital badge. The digital badge
works as an online representation of one’s earned knowledge or skills.
Educators who would like to be featured in the network can fill out the
corresponding form on the webpage.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: BCcampus has issued a call for proposals
<https://bccampus.ca/2019/01/24/adult-basic-education-zed-cred-ahead/> for
funding to create an Adult Basic Education (ABE) Zed Cred. The call is open
to B.C. educators from all levels and isn’t restricted solely to ABE
instructors. In addition to new creations and adaptations, the call also
includes the creation of ancillary materials. Proposals are due on February
11th.

OEC BOARD NOMINATIONS: Recruitment for the OEC Board of Directors is now
underway. They’re accepting nominations
<https://members.oeconsortium.org/elections/candidate/nominate/> from
administrators, faculty, Presidents and Directors of educational
institutions or other organizations and nominees from anywhere in the world
are welcome to be nominated. The deadline to file nominations is February
13th.

REGISTER: The Library Publishing Coalition has opened registration
<https://librarypublishing.org/registration-open-for-the-2019-library-publishing-forum/>
for the Library Publishing Forum (May 9th-10th) as well as their
preconference, Opening the Classroom: Publishing Open Educational Resources
(May 8th). The registration deadline is April 19th.



STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM MASSACHUSETTS: Students at Mount Wachusett Community College saved
$52,353.82 in textbook costs during the Fall 2018 semester as part of an
ongoing pilot effort to expand OER use on campus - but cost savings aren’t
the only benefit of the program. "One of the biggest benefits of OER is
that students have their material before the first day of class. It is one
of the biggest indicators of student success," said Michelle Paranto, VP of
Academic Affairs at MWCC. Read more >
<http://mwcc.edu/news-article/50k-saved-mwcc-students-using-open-educational-resources/>

FROM NEW JERSEY: Raritan Valley Community College launched their OER pilot
during the Fall 2018 semester, providing students from ten classes with
free open textbooks, with an additional five classes switching to OER for
the Spring 2019 semester. RVCC students enrolled in these classes have
saved over $93,000 in textbook costs. “I’ve surveyed the students. They
tend to find the OER comparable to commercial texts and recommend
continuing to use the open text by around 85-90 percent, depending on the
survey,” said RVCC professor Melanie Morris. Read more >
<https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/education/in-our-schools/2018/12/17/rvcc-free-textbooks-open-educational-resources/2294553002/>

FROM MICHIGAN: Mid Michigan College recently expanded the availability of
OER to students, with 116 Fall 2018 course sections using OER resulting in
2,499 instances where a student did not have to purchase a textbook. OER
efforts at Mid have saved students over $517,000 since 2016. "Mid's goal
was to reduce the cost of textbooks for students, and OER provided a
framework for us to achieve that," noted Shaelynn Long-Kish, associate dean
of Online Learning. Read more >
<https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Mid-expands-educational-resources-to-help-13462543.php>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Pacific University Press released the open textbook Introduction to
Technical Theatre <http://www.lib.pacificu.edu/pup-theatre/>, written by
Tal Sanders. The resource is intended for use in both secondary and
post-secondary theatre courses, providing a comprehensive overview of
technical theatre including terminology and general practices.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

As OER Grows Up, Advocates Stress More Than Just Low Cost | EdSurge Podcast

https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-01-15-as-oer-grows-up-advocates-stress-more-than-just-low-cost

Paywalls in academics close doors for students | North by Northwestern

http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/story/paywalls-in-academics/

Interesting to Consider >>

Renting College Textbooks Can Be An Even Bigger Rip-off Than Buying Them |
Huffington Post

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/textbook-renting-buying-college_us_5c2fd6ede4b0d75a9830b7a4


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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