[Open-education] OER Digest: November 21st, 2019

Thu Nov 21 21:25:31 UTC 2019

>From Kaitlyn Vitez and Cailyn Nagle (USPIRG) | Volume 94 | November 21st,
2019

With updates from Paula Crossman, Matthew DeCarlo, and Nicole Allen

THE OER DIGEST

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

UNESCO ON OER: UNESCO unanimously recommended a new policy on OER in
support of achieving the UN’s 2030 Development Agenda. Their recommendations
<https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-recommendation-open-educational-resources-oer>include
five objectives: building capacity of stakeholders to create, access, use,
adapt, and redistribute OER; developing supportive policy at the national
level; encouraging inclusive and equitable quality OER; nurturing the
creation of sustainability models for OER; and facilitating international
cooperation. The recommendation is expected to be approved next week at the
UN General Conference next week.

MA PROPOSAL: After meetings over the course of the course of the 2018-2019
school year, the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s OER Working
Group has released their recommendations
<https://www.mass.edu/strategic/documents/OER%20Working%20Group%20Final%20Report.pdf>
on what a state OER initiative should look like. Among their
recommendations are a council of stakeholders and staff housed in the
department, a statewide grant program, course markings for OER, and
consideration of OER for tenure and promotion. The next step in the process
is for funding to be earmarked in the state budget, due out in January.

ROADMAP: SPARC released a new strategic document Academic Community Control
of Data Infrastructure – A Roadmap for Action
<https://sparcopen.org/our-work/roadmap-for-action/>, which outlines
individual and collective actions that colleges and universities can take
to address the publishing industry’s increasing control over data
infrastructure. The topic of student data collected through digital
courseware has come up several times in the last year, including a data
breach
<https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-pearson-data-breach-lawsuit-20190905-i4dh6ayiybd6jootqwudtsymfq-story.html>
disclosed by Pearson this summer.

CO ZTC CHALLENGE: Earlier this year, Colorado began a funded statewide OER
initiative. Building upon that, Governor Jared Polis recently launched a ZTC
Challenge
<http://masterplan.highered.colorado.gov/governor-polis-ztc-challenge/>and
will award top schools and departments for progress made by the end of the
school year. To support the challenge, the OER Council and staff at the
Department of HIgher Education have developed a ZTC training, workshops,
and ambassador program.

OPEN CONNECTIONS

Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities

PROPOSALS: Submit your proposals for Open Con Cleveland by December 1st
here.
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdGaKsVhD5OPlA1WS2KDKAqNOePc9ngPWNOgTTNVza9S-XTHg/viewform>

JOB OPENING: Maricopa Community College is hiring an Academic Engagement
and Open Education Librarian. Check out the job description and apply here
<http://www.maricopa.edu/about/careers> before December 6th.

DEADLINE EXTENSION: The Library Publishing Forum has extended their
deadline to submit proposals for sessions to tomorrow November 22nd! So act
fast if you have a poster presentation, presentation, or session idea.
Submit your proposals here. <https://librarypublishing.org/program/>

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

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

FROM SOUTH CAROLINA:  Cami Westall teaches history at Piedmont Technical
College, and likes the customization OER enables for her history classes.
“With OER, we can include local history, such as the town of Ninety Six and
its importance in the American Revolution. It makes history come alive for
students,” Westall said, “while information like that might not be included
in a standard textbook.” Read More >
<http://www.indexjournal.com/lakelands_connector/piedmont-tech-faculty-gets-creative-to-save-students-money-on/article_830b6711-924c-5d5c-b9b9-66a744987d91.html>

FROM OREGON: Open textbooks have been on the ground at Blue Mountain
Community College since 2012 and have picked up steam since state
legislation passed in Oregon supporting OER adoption. Open textbooks are
now used in a quarter of classes at BMCC and have saved students $1.1
million in the past four years alone. Read More >
<https://www.eastoregonian.com/community/news/bmcc-saves-students-million-in-textbook-costs/article_16384b02-0730-11ea-a55a-33085537448b.html>

FROM ARKANSAS: Over the past four years the University of Arkansas at
Cossatot has saved students over $1.57 million with their Textbook Rental
and Open Educational Resource program, resulting in 54% of classes using
OER. "Developing and maintaining this unique program has been one of the
most challenging projects I've undertaken, but it is also the most
rewarding," said Relinda Ruth, Director of Educational Resources and OER
Specialist. The award-winning program got its start in 2015 and. Read More >
<http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texarkana/story/2019/nov/08/ua-cossatots-textbook-rental-program-saves-more-157-million/803283/>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

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

Three professors from College of the Canyons - Jennifer Paris, Kristin
Beeve, and Clint Springer - released “Introduction to Curriculum for Early
Childhood Education
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CG-nXzs4xzTMBl32HbYcdtbRhiW1Z1YD/view>.”
The new textbook focuses on developing curriculum for young children. Last
year the same professors published “Child Growth and Development,
<https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/child-growth-and-development>”
found in the Open Textbook Library.

WEIGH IN

Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider

Great to Share >>

Open Access Resources would be financially beneficial to students
<https://dailybruin.com/2019/11/04/op-ed-open-access-resources-would-be-financially-beneficial-to-uc-students/>
| The Daily Bruin

Investing in Open Textbooks will Ease Burden on Students
<https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-investing-in-open-textbooks-will-ease-burden-on-post-secondary-students>
| Edmonton Journal

Interesting to Consider >>

A Class of Published Authors
<https://www.muhlenberg.edu/news/2019/aclassofpublishedauthors.html>  |
Muhlenberg College

How Traditional Publishers Price Textbooks
<http://pedablogy.stevegreenlaw.org/2019/11/how-traditional-publishers-price-textbooks/>
| Pedablogy

Teaching Note: Creating Open Textbooks for Social Work Education
<https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/qf3t5/> l Journal of Social Work
Education

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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