[Open-education] OER Digest: May 16th, 2019

Fri May 17 01:02:08 UTC 2019

>From Kaitlyn Vitez and Nick Sengstaken (USPIRG) | Volume 81 | May 16th, 2019

THE OER DIGEST

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

PUBLISHER CONSOLIDATION CONTINUES: Shortly after Cengage and McGraw-Hill
announced their intention to merge
<https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-05-03-how-merger-of-two-textbook-giants-could-impact-course-materials>
(our top story in the last edition), another textbook publisher, Wiley,
finalized the purchase of Knewton. The eleven year old ed tech startup has
focused on adaptive learning technology and, recently, lower-cost access
codes based on openly licensed content. While this acquisition is giving
some advocates more reason to worry about greater consolidation of
publishers in an already tight marketplace, it also shows that there are
increasing pressures on major players to expand their lower-cost offerings.

   -

   Inside Higher Ed: End of the Line for Much-Hyped Tech Company
   <https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2019/05/07/wiley-buys-knewton-adaptive-learning-technology-company>
   -

   Education Dive: Publisher consolidation continues with Wiley, Cengage
   and McGraw-Hill deals
   <https://www.educationdive.com/news/publisher-consolidation-continues-with-wiley-cengage-and-mcgraw-hill-deals/554210/>
   -

   Chronicle of Higher Ed: Another Big Move Hits Higher-Ed Publishing, as
   Wiley Buys Knewton
   <https://www.chronicle.com/article/Another-Big-Move-Hits/246249>

STATE UPDATES: A bill
<http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2018/Bills/A0500/327_U1.PDF>that would
require institutions to make textbook affordability plans heads to the
governor’s desk for signature in New Jersey. In North Carolina, the House
passed a funding bill <https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2019/H665> that
would allocate $300,000 for open textbook adoption and curation in the UNC
statewide system, and now awaits action in the Senate. Meanwhile, bills
passed out of the House in Texas to set up a state OER repository
<https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB3652>
and require dual-enrollment courses to consider OER
<https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB3650>,
while a bill on inclusive access
<https://capitol.texas.gov/billlookup/History.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB1933>
will not move forward. A new inclusive access
<https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?bn=S03661&term=2019> bill has started moving
in New York.

STATEWIDE FUNDING: An Indianapolis-based foundation, the Lilly Endowment,
recently awarded $520,000 to the Private Academic Library Network of
Indiana (PALNI) for their PALSave initiative. According to Kirsten Leonard,
Executive Director of PALNI, “The PALSave program will provide education
and funding support to the faculty of the 24 private Indiana colleges,
universities, and seminaries to adopt, adapt, and create affordable
learning materials.” Read more here
<http://www.palni.org/2019/05/09/private-academic-library-network-of-indianas-affordable-education-initiative-garners-support-from-lilly-endowment/>
.

ACHIEVEMENTS ABROAD: The recent UNESCO report ‘Understanding the Impact of
OER: Achievements and Challenges
<https://iite.unesco.org/publications/understanding-the-impact-of-oer-achievements-and-challenges/>’
provides a series of case studies detailing OER policies and initiatives
happening across the world. The publication includes achievements and
discussions from 15 countries, seeking “to shed light on such important
issues as the economic and pedagogical value of investing in OER; the role
of OER in fostering diversity, inclusion, and in purposively pursuing
quality improvement and innovation; and, finally, the extent to which these
important issues are being researched." These global achievements are also
outlined in the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s report, Understanding
the Global OER Landscape
<https://hewlett.org/library/understanding-the-global-oer-landscape/>.

NEW AUTHOR: Hello! I’m Nick Sengstaken, and I’m excited to be joining the
OER Digest team as a summer intern with U.S. PIRG. Now a rising senior at
UNC Chapel Hill, I’ve spent the last three years advocating for OER as both
Coordinator for NCPIRG’s College Affordability Campaign and Affordability
Co-Chair for UNC’s Undergraduate Student Government. I currently serve as
Undergraduate Chief of Staff. You can find me @NickSengstaken
<https://twitter.com/NickSengstaken>.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

OPPORTUNITY: BCcampus is searching for a Project Manager to focus on
Business and STEM Zed Cred Development. Submit your cover letter and CV to
jobs at bccampus.ca by May 31, or learn more about this and other open
positions here. <https://bccampus.ca/about-us/careers/>

OPPORTUNITY: George Mason University is seeking an Open Educational
Resources & Scholarly Communication Lead to collaborate with colleagues in
Mason Publishing, within the Libraries more broadly, and across the
university to support the adoption and creation of open and affordable
course content. Learn more and apply here
<https://jobs.gmu.edu/postings/45536> by June 3rd.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM NORTH CAROLINA: NC Live hosted their first annual conference since
launching a statewide initiative to identify open textbooks for the most
frequently taught courses across the states colleges and universities,
awarding a total of 87 grants. Not only did the investment create an
estimated $5.7 million
<https://drive.google.com/open?id=1v4lCPydcBAXoxTfhHKlmTlueBeIf5PDE> in
savings for 41,849 students over a two year period- with a return on
investment of 1:66- but 100% of faculty who switched to open textbooks
stated that they would continue using the materials. Read More >
<https://www.nclive.org/annualconference?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrtTVn6Cg4gIVAuDICh2AJQ5IEAAYASAAEgIpyfD_BwE>

FROM CALIFORNIA: Since leading the charge for OER use at Pasadena City
College in 2015, when she became the first professor to adopt a textbook
from Rice University’s OpenStax collection, Julie Kiotas and her Open
Education Resources Committee have saved students $1.2 million with the
support of Zero-Textbook Cost (ZTC) option courses. At Pasadena City
College, 195 faculty now teach 559 ZTC sections which serves 15,383
students at the college according to Shatford Library
<https://libguides.pasadena.edu/oer>. Read More >
<http://www.pcccourier.com/main-story/1-2-million-saved-thanks-to-zero-textbook-cost-classes.html>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Open Oregon <https://openoregon.org/resources/> celebrated the addition of
the 600th entry in its OER repository after just four years. The entry, a
grant-funded textbook on introductory Chinese, was written by Lin Hong of
Central Oregon Community College. The text includes ten sections, two of
which are “pre-units”, with section communication objectives, several
modules, and a unit review. The full text can be accessed
<https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bSOIvGgl0SEc7M8hxOIwJw3mMigMROgT>in PDF
or Microsoft Word formats.

WEIGH IN

Interesting Discussions and Strategic Reads to Repost or Share

Great to Share >>

Leah Wasser Receives Open Educator Award
<https://www.colorado.edu/libraries/2019/05/06/leah-wasser-receives-open-educator-award>
l UC Boulder Libraries

Interesting to Consider >>

5 Reasons to have OER and Open Up Resources on Your Radar
<https://alicekeeler.com/2019/05/07/5-reasons-to-have-oer-and-open-up-resources-on-your-radar/>
| Teacher Tech with Alice Keeler

Knewton Is Gone. The Larger Threat Remains
<https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/knewton-gone-larger-threat-remains?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=a9b26a5e62-DNU_2019_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-a9b26a5e62-228783545&mc_cid=a9b26a5e62&mc_eid=ae9697b0b8>
| Inside Higher Ed

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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