[Open-education] OER Digest - March 7, 2019

Thu Mar 7 22:23:34 UTC 2019

>From Mo Nyamweya, SPARC | Volume 76 | March 7, 2019

THE OER DIGEST

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

OPEN TEXTBOOK PILOT UPDATE: The U.S. Department of Education has awarded
the second round
<http://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/02/26/arizona-state-and-chippewa-valley-get-oer-grants-education>of
$5 million in Open Textbook Pilot funding to Chippewa Valley Technical
College and Arizona State University. Instead of opening a new competition
as per Congress’s instructions, the Department funded high-ranking
proposals that were submitted in the first round. While that means there
will not be a chance to apply, the funding will go toward projects that
benefit the broader community. Senators Durbin and Murray sent a letter
<https://sparcopen.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/20190225_Congress_Letter_to_ED.pdf>
to Secretary DeVos requesting an explanation of the Department’s actions.

OE WEEK HILL BRIEFING: A group of open education leaders including
representatives from SPARC and U.S. PIRG took to Capitol Hill during Open
Education Week to educate lawmakers about open textbooks and college
affordability. Events included a panel briefing for Congressional staff, a
meeting with OER champion Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), and meetings with
offices of both parties. According to SPARC’s recap
<https://sparcopen.org/news/2019/sparc-celebrates-open-education-week-on-capitol-hill/>,
the goal is to renew and strengthen the Open Textbook Pilot funding and
pass the Affordable College Textbook Act
<http://sparcopen.org/our-work/affordable-college-textbook-act/>.

NEBRASKA UPDATE: Doubling down on their commitment to OER, Nebraska has
launched
<https://www.starherald.com/news/local_news_briefs/nebraska-unveils-open-educational-resources-hub/article_c22f193d-0569-536a-b92d-3116ea02c52f.html>
the Nebraska OER Hub <https://www.oercommons.org/hubs/nebraska>, joining
more than 30 OER Project Hubs on the OER Commons public digital library,
which brings together groups of educators to create, organize, and share
their resources. Meanwhile, students at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln saved
$117,836 in textbook finances
<http://www.dailynebraskan.com/news/new-open-education-initiative-offers-student-savings-for-textbooks-course/article_2accc16c-3637-11e9-8afa-4f69837e9345.html>
during the 2018 fall semester thanks to UNL’s Successful Teaching with
Affordable Resources initiative which was designed to lower the costs of
textbooks and course content through the use of OER. UNL expects to save
students at least $275,000 during the 2019-20 academic year.

POLICY UPDATES: The Washington House of Representatives unanimously passed
<https://www.lyndentribune.com/news/van-werven-bill-requires-low-cost-notice-on-college-books/article_5cb0b528-3f9a-11e9-8623-7fb671f1e9b0.html>
a measure that would ensure that community and technical college students
are aware of which courses use low-cost or free materials. Oregon introduced
a bill <https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/HB2213>
that would require community colleges to ensure that course descriptions
include textbook costs, and another
<https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/HB2214> that
would allocate money to fund Oregon’s OER Program. Texas, which passed OER
legislation in its last session, is now considering a bill
<https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB1933>
that would support inclusive access.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

REGISTER NOW: Registration <https://tac.nacs.org/#Registration> for the
Textbook Affordability Conference (April 14-16) has opened. The conference
takes place at the University of Minnesota and will focus on affordability,
accessibility, and effective course content.

REGISTER NOW: Registration
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/digital-initiatives-symposium-2019-registration-50290723909>
for the 2019 Digital Initiatives Symposium (April 29-30) is open. The event
takes place at the University of San Diego and registration closes on April
19.

REGISTER NOW: Registration
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeg1EFUZBB40DOFuMunYIbZLWVfIXI8GctrIWIzbiQx2wGKvQ/viewform>
is open for the first-ever 2019 Statewide Colorado OER Conference (May 31).
The conference hosted by the Colorado Department of Ed and taking place in
Denver at CCCS.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The 2019 Miami University Libraries Copyright
Conference (September 25-26) is now accepting proposals
<https://copyrightconference.lib.miamioh.edu/registration/> for poster and
breakout sessions. The deadline for proposals is March 31.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM KENTUCKY: University of Kentucky Libraries is entering the fourth
round of their Alternative Textbook Grant Program. As of August 2018, 15 of
the funded courses had an approximate enrollment of 4,318 students and an
accumulative estimated savings of $665,690 for enrolled students. Each
student saved about $154 on average. “I now have a plethora of resources to
use going forward with this course and will likely not go back to a
standardized textbook,” said Robin Vanderpool, associate professor in the
Department of Health, Behavior & Society and grant recipient. Read more >>
<http://uknow.uky.edu/professional-news/alternative-textbook-grants-available-academic-year-2019-20>

FROM ILLINOIS: Triton College is celebrating $1 million in student savings,
thanks to their innovative Low Cost/No Cost Textbook Alternatives Program.
The program, launched in 2013 with support from a grant from the U.S.
Department of Labor, aims to better prepare students for success by
providing access to high quality open textbooks and other free learning
materials. "Once we have an opportunity to have a dialogue with faculty,
they realize that there are high quality resources available that are
created by faculty and reviewed by faculty at institutions across the
country -- they become excited to learn more about it," said faculty
librarian Lauren Kosrow. Read more >>
<https://www.dailyherald.com/submitted/20190220/triton-celebrates-1-million-in-student-savings-through-low-costno-cost-textbook-initiative>

FROM COLORADO: Educators from the University of Colorado have launched the
Open CU Initiative, designed to leverage existing infrastructure, advocacy
and leadership support to increase OER awareness, evaluation and adoption
across the campuses’ 66,000 degree-seeking students and 9,000 faculty and
instructors. “We are excited to work with a vast group from all four
campuses to really bring awareness and use of OER to UCCS to help support
our mission of putting our students and their financial needs first,” said
Provost Tom Christensen. Read more >> <http://communique.uccs.edu/?p=73374>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

The University of Duisburg-Essen Department of Business Administration and
Economics recently published Introduction to Econometrics with R
<https://www.econometrics-with-r.org/>, an interactive learning material
for students learning the statistical programming language R. The resource
is currently in open review.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Open Textbooks Are the Future of Higher Education | The Trinity Tripod

https://commons.trincoll.edu/tripod/2019/03/06/open-textbooks-are-the-future-of-higher-education/

The high cost of college textbooks, explained | Vox

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/3/6/18252322/college-textbooks-cost-expensive-pearson-cengage-mcgraw-hill

Interesting to Consider >>

Letter to the editor: Pearson’s All-in Digital Access program is a mistake
| The Daily Tar Heel

https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2019/03/letter-to-the-editor-pearson-education-0228

Today’s Context Demands Use of OER | Inside Higher Ed

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/views/2019/02/27/using-open-education-isnt-just-nice-have-when-students-are

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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