Open Educational Resources: Searching OER Collections - Lehman College

OASIS

Openly Available Sources Integrated Search (OASIS) is a search tool that aims to make the discovery of open content easier. OASIS currently searches open content from 61 different sources and contains 160,072 records.

Pressbooks Directory

The Pressbooks Directory works by collating public books created on PressbooksEDU networks and allowing users to search the metadata written by the authors of the books.

CC Search (Creative Commons)

Search for free content in the public domain and under Creative Commons licenses. CC Search searches images across 19 collections pulled from open APIs and the Common Crawl dataset, including cultural works from museums (the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art), graphic designs and art works (Behance, DeviantArt), photos from Flickr, and an initial set of CC0 3D designs from Thingiverse.

OER Metafinder

The OER Metafinder is a real-time, simultaneous search across all the content of 17 different sources of open educational materials.

https://libguides.lehman.edu/c.php?g=612694&p=4255681

https://guides.library.uwm.edu/oers/findtextbooks - UW Milwaukee

It is estimated by the College Board that undergraduate students can expect to pay upwards of $1,298 a year for ​​​textbooks and supplies. The cost of textbooks impacts student success and retention. Students who participated in the 2016 Florida Student Textbook Survey answered that, at least once over the course of their academic careers, the cost of required textbooks caused them to:

66.6% Not purchase the required textbook

47.6% Take fewer courses

45.5% Not register for a specific course

37.6% Earn a poor grade because I could not afford to buy the textbook

26.1% Drop a course

19.8% Fail a course because I could not afford to buy the textbook

Open textbooks...

https://guides.library.uwm.edu/oers/findtextbooks

Open Educational Resources: Find Open Textbooks - UIC

OER Centralized Searching

These search engines are a great place to start your OER search, especially if you're not tied to textbooks. They search across a variety of OER collections, databases, and repositories to make your search a bit easier. 

https://researchguides.uic.edu/opentextbooks/search

Open Books, Open Minds - AAC&U

Open educational resources (OER)—freely licensed, remixable learning materials, from single lessons to full textbooks—lower the overall cost of attending college, improve student retention and success, and result in more equitable outcomes. When educators offer all students in a class free materials on day one, they can help level the academic playing field. Research shows that in certain contexts in which educators provide OER, student performance gaps shrink and withdrawal rates decline. More than 3,000 faculty across the United States have signed an open textbook statement of support sponsored by Student Public Interest Research Groups (Student PIRGs), pledging to consider cost in choosing course materials and to promote the use of high-quality open textbooks. But more faculty can take advantage of OER as they plan their courses. Even though 82 percent of faculty select materials for their courses, just 17 percent were “very aware” of OER in 2019–20, according to the report Digital Texts in the Time of COVID: Educational Resources in U.S. Higher Education, 2020 by Julia E. Seaman and Jeff Seaman.

https://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/articles/open-books-open-minds

Opening up to OER: Creating Open Education Awareness on a large campus -UT Libraries

Like many academic libraries, the University of Texas Libraries (UT) at UT-Austin is looking for ways to increase awareness of open educational resources (OER) on our campus. Our university does not have an OER mandate from our central campus administration, so the path towards greater awareness hasn’t been straightforward. We hope that sharing our nascent attempts to start this conversation on our campus, which have included starting a working group, offering faculty workshops, and fundraising for an OER librarian position, will help others begin to champion OER on their campuses.

https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/items/395220f4-82fb-49e9-973e-3a17ef642438

The 5 Rs of Using OER - Nova Southeastern University

Within the bounds of Creative Commons licensing there are 5 key points to consider when using OERs:

Reuse - Content can be reused in its unaltered original format - the right to use the content in a wide range of ways (e.g., in a class, in a study group, on a website, in a video)

Retain - Copies of content can be retained for personal archives or reference - the right to make, own, and control copies of the content (e.g., download, duplicate, store, and manage)

Revise - Content can be modified or altered to suit specific needs - the right to adapt, adjust, modify, or alter the content itself (e.g., translate the content into another language)

Remix - Content can be adapted with other similar content to create something new- the right to combine the original or revised content with other material to create something new (e.g., incorporate the content into a mashup)

Redistribute - Content can be shared with anyone else in its original or altered format - the right to share copies of the original content, your revisions, or your remixes with others (e.g., give a copy of the content to a friend)

https://libguides.nova.edu/friendly.php?s=oer/5rs

M State unveils new initiative offering courses with free or low-cost textbooks - Melissa Van Der Stad, InForum

Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Moorhead is joining other area high education institutions with an announcement aimed at making school more affordable and accessible. The two-year college announced a yearlong engagement with the Institute on Open Educational Resources, a program designed to offer free or nearly free textbooks and other instructional materials for students pursuing a degree. The college is one of 48 institutions across the country to participate in the 2023-2024 institute. “The initiative is expected to not only increase the affordability of M State — which already has one of the lowest tuition rates of any two-year college in Minnesota – but also bolster student equity, retention, completion and overall success rates," the school wrote in the release.

https://www.inforum.com/news/moorhead/m-state-unveils-new-initiative-offering-courses-with-free-or-low-cost-textbooks

Mays Imad Leads Grant-Funded Project for Equity-Minded and Trauma-Informed Teaching in Higher Education - Leo Gallagher, Bolly Inside

Connecticut College Associate Professor of Biology Mays Imad is leading a newly funded project titled “Toward an Equity-Minded and Trauma-Informed Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.” The project aims to create an open educational resource (OER) course for educators across disciplines and institutions. The project team includes Assistant Director of Student Counseling Services Bryana White, Director of the Joy Shechtman Mankoff Center for Teaching and Learning Michael Reder, and Assistant Professors of Psychology Hyun Joon Park and Nakia Hamlett. The project’s goals involve promoting equity and justice, understanding the stress-learning-brain connection, and designing culturally grounded mental health resources for students.

https://www.bollyinside.com/news/education/mays-imad-leads-grant-funded-project-for-equity-minded-and-trauma-informed-teaching-in-higher-education/

OEN Offers Freely Available Resources in Open Pedagogy & Open Educational Practices - OEN

In October the Open Education Network (OEN) celebrated International Open Access Week 2023 with the release of two new openly licensed resources. Developed collaboratively by the OEN community and team, the Open Pedagogy Student Toolkit and Certificate in Open Educational Practices (public version) are now freely available to adopt, adapt, and share.

https://open.umn.edu/oen/blog/oen-offers-freely-available-resources-in-open-pedagogy-and-practices

Free college textbooks to cost $2 million - Tom Joyce, The Center Square

The University of New Mexico will receive $2.1 million from the federal government for textbooks as part of the federal Open Textbook Grant due to the school's existing support for Open Educational Resources. UNM will use the grant funding to establish the New Mexico Open Educational Resources Consortium, aiming to help faculty across the state adopt open-access materials. This grant, one of five awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, will “transform the landscape of education in New Mexico,” according to the university.

https://www.thecentersquare.com/new_mexico/article_3bc80a84-826e-11ee-86e5-9f65285a4633.html

The State of Open Data 2023 Report - Digital Science

The State of Open Data 2023 deliberately takes a more analytical approach to the survey data than in previous years. With more data surfaced, the 2023 report provides unique and unparalleled insights into researchers’ attitudes towards and interactions with open data and data sharing.  The report digs into the survey responses and looks at differing trends when comparing respondents’ geographies and other demographic factors. Using these insights, we take a look towards the future and offer some recommendations to the academic community.

https://www.digital-science.com/state-of-open-data/

OER Dynamic Coalition Webinar for Indigenous languages

OER Dynamic Coalition Webinar for Indigenous languages

13 December 2023 - 4:00 pm - 13 December 2023 - 5:30 pm

Location

UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France

Rooms :

Room VI

Type :

Cat VII – Seminar and training

Arrangement type :

Virtual

Language(s) :

FrenchSpanishEnglish

https://www.unesco.org/en/event/oer-dynamic-coalition-webinar-indigenous-languages

Open Educational Resources (OER) - Universities of Wisconsin

Open educational resources (OER) are high-quality, effective teaching and learning materials that provide no-cost or low-cost access for students. OER includes curriculum, maps, course materials, textbooks, streaming videos, multimedia applications, podcasts, and any other materials that have been designed for use in teaching and learning. According to UNESCO, “Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning or research materials that are in the public domain or released with an intellectual property license that allows for free use, adaptation, and distribution.” Like traditional textbooks, open textbooks are written by experts in the field and undergo a process of peer review and professional editing and development. Unlike the traditional publishing model, publishers and authors of open textbooks are paid for their labor upfront by a funding organization or grant, instead of relying on sales to pay back their investments.

https://www.wisconsin.edu/oer/

Save Money on Textbooks Next Semester With No-Cost Course Materials List, University of Arkansas

The University Libraries and Associated Student Government have collaborated to create a list of courses utilizing no-cost materials in lieu of traditional textbooks. Students are encouraged to view this list prior to enrolling in courses for the spring 2024 semester.  "It is so important for the student body to be aware of these resources so they are able to make informed decisions as they register for classes," said Brooke Williard, director of open access resources for the Associated Student Government. "That is why I am so excited to advertise the 'No Cost Textbook Guide' for this upcoming spring registration."

https://news.uark.edu/articles/66812/save-money-on-textbooks-next-semester-with-no-cost-course-materials-list

UMass Lowell unveils new low to no cost textbooks for students - Jocelyn Dean, UML Connector

The high cost of textbooks has become a major debate across UMass Lowell. Many financially concerned students face hardships at the beginning of each semester, worrying if they will be able to purchase their necessities. Paying hundreds of dollars for textbooks is not ideal, especially when not all of its content is used for their respective courses. Students are left frustrated and concerned as a result. So, because of this issue, UMass Lowell has been promoting open educational resources (OER) and low-cost textbooks. This can ease worries, but oftentimes, students do not know how much their books will cost until the first day of classes. However, the university is implementing new ways of resolving this issue. The OER Task Force members, including administrators, faculty and SGA (Student Government Association), have worked to create a new system when registering for classes for the upcoming spring semester.

https://umlconnector.com/2023/11/umass-lowell-unveils-new-low-to-no-cost-textbooks-for-students/

CC RESPONDS TO THE UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE NOTICE OF INQUIRY ON COPYRIGHTAND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - Creative Commons

In this post we summarize the key point of our submission, namely:

AI training generally constitutes fair use

Copyright should protect AI outputs with significant human creative input

The substantial standard similarity should apply to Infringement by AI outputs

Creators should be able to express their preferences

Copyright cannot solve everything related to generative AI

https://creativecommons.org/2023/11/07/cc-responds-to-the-united-states-copyright-office-notice-of-inquiry-on-copyright-and-artificial-intelligence/

EXPANDING THE REACH OF RESEARCH WITH OPEN ACCESS - Allison Ebner, University of Delaware

When scholarship is made freely available, it allows researchers worldwide to engage with it, resulting in a much larger reach and impact. Over the past year, the University of Delaware Library, Museums and Press has increased its efforts to support initiatives around open access publishing. Open access, the practice of making articles, books and other original research freely and digitally accessible for anyone to read and reuse, has been a key focus in the commitment to expand access to cutting-edge research from the UD community and beyond.

https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2023/october/open-access-publishing-library-museums-press/

Open-access reformers launch next bold publishing plan - Layal Liverpool, Nature

The group behind the radical open-access initiative Plan S has announced its next big plan to shake up research publishing — and this one could be bolder than the first. It wants all versions of an article and its associated peer-review reports to be published openly from the outset, without authors paying any fees, and for authors, rather than publishers, to decide when and where to first publish their work. The group of influential funding agencies, called cOAlition S, has over the past five years already caused upheaval in the scholarly publishing world by pressuring more journals to allow immediate open-access publishing. Its new proposal, prepared by a working group of publishing specialists and released on 31 October, puts forward an even broader transformation in the dissemination of research.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03342-6

AUAS interview: Why open access is important for applied sciences - Science Business

Research conducted at AUAS generates knowledge products and research data that should seamlessly integrate into education, research, professional practice, and society at large. Open access publishing, which is increasingly finding its place at universities of applied sciences, plays a pivotal role. What exactly is open access, and why is it of such significance? We had the pleasure of conversing with Anne Marie Meijer during Open Access Week to explore these questions. Anne Marie Meijer supports researchers in open access publishing, registration, and dissemination of articles, apps, datasets, and other products of applied research.

https://sciencebusiness.net/network-updates/auas-interview-why-open-access-important-applied-sciences

Free textbooks and other open educational resources gain popularity - Tony Feder, Physics Today

The prices of college textbooks have skyrocketed: From 2011 to 2018, they went up by 40.6% in the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index. That can add up to as much as $1000 for a single semester. So it’s no surprise that freely available, openly licensed textbooks, lectures, simulations, problem sets, and more—known collectively as open educational resources (OERs)—are having a moment. Last year, for the first time, more than half of US college faculty reported “some level of awareness” of OERs, finds Bay View Analytics, a company that conducts research at the intersection of technology and education.

https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/article/76/7/18/2899794/Free-textbooks-and-other-open-educational

Student Survey Highlights The Burdens of Textbook Costs - Nick Karmia, the Courier

After a COD student spoke of boycotting and potentially dropping their classes for the requirement of purchasing expensive online textbooks, Student Leadership Council member Moises Plata wanted to see if a good chunk of the student body shared the same sentiment. From nursing, computer science and psychology majors, to those who are undecided, Plata surveyed nearly 170 students around campus about their personal experiences with using online textbooks as a whole. Collectively, survey responses indicated feelings of exploitation but also evidence that many students who’ve used online textbooks have found them ineffective. 

https://codcourier.org/student-survey-highlights-the-burdens-of-textbook-costs/