[Open-education] OER Digest - July

Wed Jul 24 21:15:34 UTC 2019

>From Bilan Jama, Creative Commons USA | Volume 86 | July 25th, 2019

THE OER DIGEST

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

STATE POLICY: Massachusetts’ H561
<https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H561> was
up for a hearing this month. The bill requires the Department of Education
to convene a working group to assess and recommend revisions to policies
and procedures on media literacy. Massachusetts’ bill S324
<https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/S324> was also up for a hearing, and
would establish a special commission relative to digital textbooks in the
state.

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS DASHBOARD: SETDA developed a K12 Instructional
Materials Dashboard <https://qualitycontent.setda.org/dashboard/> of state
reviewed, full course instructional materials for English/Language Arts and
math at the secondary level. The database contains 450 print and digital
licensed products and open education resources. The dashboard was developed
as a resource for state, district and school leaders as they consider
selecting new instructional materials. Currently, the dashboard aggregates
public information from 12 different state websites.

NEW COLLAB: panOpen and Willo Labs partnered
<https://www.prweb.com/releases/panopen_and_willo_labs_partner_to_deliver_next_generation_oer_to_colleges_and_universities_across_north_america/prweb16457347.htm>
together to facilitate the rapid adoption of OER for colleges and
universities across North America. This collaboration allows for a deep
integration into virtually all Learning Management Systems in use, allowing
faculty to select peer-reviewed, technology-enhanced, and supported OER
courseware easily.

DIGITAL FIRST:  Pearson announced
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pearson-textbooks/pearson-goes-digital-first-in-u-s-college-market-idUSKCN1UA2IU>
that it is moving from a traditional to a "digital first" publishing model,
aiming to address any revisions or changes to textbook content will happen
first in the digital version. This new development process goes into effect
next year and they say all of their 1,500 higher education titles will
follow suit over the next few years.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

OPPORTUNITY: University of Texas at San Antonio is searching for a Library
Services Assistant. The position focuses on providing library support
services and administrative support for Open Education Resources
initiatives. Read More >> <https://jobs.utsa.edu/postings/13192>

OPPORTUNITY: Saginaw Valley State University is searching for a Research
and Open Education Resources Librarian that supports the University's OER
vision, provides leadership, and manages their OER efforts. Read More >>
<https://jobopportunities.svsu.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1563953480160>

REGISTER: You can register for the 2019 Michigan OER Summit here
<https://www.cvent.com/events/2019-mi-oer-summit/registration-8e6dc7f3c2c54e68b2402582e9179b8f.aspx?fqp=true>,
which will be held Friday, October 18, 2019 at Delta College.

APPLY NOW: Applications for this year’s Open Education Policy Forum, taking
place in Warsaw on October 7th-8th, are now open
<https://oerpolicy.eu/oe-policy-forum/>. The deadline for applications is
July 28th.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM MASSACHUSETTS: Brandeis University's Graduate Professional Studies
division will partner with The Open Source Initiative to provide new
educational offerings for the open source community. "Much like the other
graduate programs at Brandeis GPS, open source technology's flexibility,
speed, and cost-effectiveness makes it extremely desirable for
organizations. It yields a better quality product, creates a culture of
collaboration, and attracts curious and innovative talent that all CIO's
covet”, said university's chief information officer, Dr. James La Creta.  Read
More >>
<https://blogs.brandeis.edu/gps/2019/07/17/brandeis-announces-commitment-to-open-source-movement/>

FROM CALIFORNIA: In an effort to help College of the Canyons (COC) increase
its online class offerings and lower the cost of textbooks, the California
Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office awarded COC with a grant worth up to
$500,000. “The grant will provide resources to increase access, improve
quality and eliminate textbook costs to four of our high-quality online
pathways,” said Brian Weston, the director of distance and accelerated
learning at the college and the project manager for the OER grant. Read
More >>
<https://signalscv.com/2019/07/coc-receives-grant-to-expand-online-career-technical-education-offerings/>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Through California State University's Affordable Learning Solutions partnership
<https://lumenlearning.com/csu-als-and-lumen-learning-partner/>with Lumen
Learning, they have assembled a broad selection of free and low-cost course
materials, to make it easier for faculty to find and adopt affordable
textbooks and reduce the overall cost of education for CSU students.
Lumen's digital courseware is now available to CSU instructors as a
low-cost textbook option for many general education courses.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Questrom to Offer Online MBA with edX in 2020
<https://www.bu.edu/articles/2019/questrom-to-offer-online-mba-with-edx-in-2020/>
| BU Today

Interesting to Consider >>

Adding fees for access to digital textbooks re-creates monopoly
<https://eu.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2019/07/12/adding-fees-access-digital-textbooks-re-creates-monopoly/1709373001/>
| Tennessean

Digital Education Content Market 2019 is Booming Worldwide | Adobe Systems,
Cengage Learning Holdings, McGraw-Hill Education
<http://californiaoracle.com/digital-education-content-market-2019-is-booming-worldwide-adobe-systems-cengage-learning-holdings-mcgraw-hill-education/44859/>
| California Oracle

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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