panOpen and Willo Labs Partner to Deliver Next-Generation OER to Colleges and Universities Across North America

Faculty can set up their courses in minutes and enjoy such features as single sign-on and gradebook syncing directly from their LMS course shell. Institutional LMS administrators likewise can now easily provision, manage, and roll out multiple OER courses with a few clicks. Institutional leaders have a straightforward solution to offer faculty interested in adopting not only turnkey OER courses in panOpen as an alternative to high-cost resources but a way to foster pedagogical innovation among faculty through working with open content.

https://www.prweb.com/releases/panopen_and_willo_labs_partner_to_deliver_next_generation_oer_to_colleges_and_universities_across_north_america/prweb16457347.htm

Proposal for Federal Income-Share Agreement Program - Andrew Kreighbaum, Inside Higher Ed

A paper released Tuesday by the Manhattan Institute proposes a federal income-share agreement that would extend students a single $50,000 line of credit. Students would commit to paying back 1 percent of their income for every $10,000 of credit they draw down for 25 years. Jason Delisle, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the proposal, argues that the ISA structure would mean student aid is not delivered in a regressive manner -- those who earn more would pay back more.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/07/23/proposal-federal-income-share-agreement-program?mc_cid=b4be181ccc&mc_eid=879d6835e3

OER and OEP for Access, Equity, Equality, Quality, Inclusiveness, and Empowering Lifelong Learning - Ebba Ossiannilsson,, IJOER

Open educational resources (OERs) are catalysts of lifelong learning (LLL) and continuous professional development (CPD). OERs are used in microlearning and nanolearning by lifelong learners, including those in the workplace. OERs have the potential to expand the access to lifelong learning opportunities, achieve quality in education, and establish legal and political frameworks that promote, social justice, collaboration and coordinated partnerships.

https://www.ijoer.org/oer-and-oep-for-access-equity-equality-quality-inclusiveness-and-empowering-lifelong-learning/

OpenStax and Vretta Partner to Distribute OER Print Textbooks for Canadian Students - Vretta and Open Stax

OpenStax and Vretta have partnered to distribute high-quality OER print textbooks to institutions and students across Canada. Though OpenStax OER textbooks will always be free online, surveys have found that about 10% of students would rather use printed versions. By partnering with a leading Canadian education technology company, Vretta, OpenStax now has the means to meet the needs of many Canadian students who prefer using print textbooks to learn.

https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/19/07/n14110737/openstax-and-vretta-partner-to-distribute-oer-print-textbooks-for-canadian-students

OER and OEP for Access, Equity, Equality, Quality, Inclusiveness, and Empowering Lifelong Learning By Ebba Ossiannilsson, IJOER

Open educational resources (OERs) are catalysts of lifelong learning (LLL) and continuous professional development (CPD). OERs are used in microlearning and nanolearning by lifelong learners, including those in the workplace. OERs have the potential to expand the access to lifelong learning opportunities, achieve quality in education, and establish legal and political frameworks that promote, social justice, collaboration and coordinated partnerships.

https://www.ijoer.org/oer-and-oep-for-access-equity-equality-quality-inclusiveness-and-empowering-lifelong-learning/

Suitable economic models for Open Educational Resources initiative in aquaculture higher education - Alexandra Pounds1 & John Bostock1

Many initiatives are developing Open Educational Resources (OERs) in a variety of sectors because they have the potential to increase access to education and knowledge. Investment is a limiting factor for many of these initiatives. Future OER initiatives in the aquaculture community, such as the development of the AquaCase 3.0 website, will need to address this limitation by establishing a sustainable financial model. One way to do this is by relying on volunteer content creation. This study examined whether educators and students in the aquaculture community already contribute their materials, and if they would be willing to voluntarily contribute their materials in the future. Responses to online questionnaires of students and educators in the aquaculture community suggested that, although respondents currently have low creation to usage ratios, respondents would be willing to contribute their materials voluntarily for altruistic and promotional reasons, which would reduce the costs of such an initiative. In order for this to happen, institutions must support Open Resource Practices (ORPs) among their educator and student base through revised copyright policies.Governments may wish to incentivize institutions to encourage OER contribution by providing funding based on OER development.

https://oerknowledgecloud.org/sites/oerknowledgecloud.org/files/Pounds-Bostock2019_Article_SuitableEconomicModelsForOpenE.pdf

Grant for supporting effective development and use of OER in higher education systems in Africa - Hewlett Foundation

The South African Institute for Distance Education is a nonprofit organization committed to enabling successful open learning through initiatives such as OER Africa. The OER Africa project will support a collaboration with African higher education institutions and organizations to develop professional competences and skills in creating and using OER. This work will enable educators to implement OER to improve the quality of teaching and learning.
https://hewlett.org/grants/saide-for-supporting-effective-development-and-use-of-oer-in-higher-education-systems-in-africa/

College Of The Canyons Receives Grant For Online Career Education - KHTS

College of the Canyons was recently given a grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office allowing the college to offer more online education classes and lower the cost of textbooks by expanding the use of online textbooks, according to officials. COC was one of 70 community colleges to receive up to $500,000 in grant funding to expand online Career Technical Education (CTE) offerings and provide technical support for Open Educational Resources (OER) and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) grantees.

https://www.hometownstation.com/santa-clarita-news/education/college-of-the-canyons/college-of-the-canyons-receives-grant-for-online-career-education-285416

Cal State Adds Lumen Courseware to Menu of Affordable Textbooks - Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

California State University's Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) initiative has partnered with Lumen Learning to make courseware from the open educational resources provider available to faculty and students across the system.  Since 2010, CSU AL$ has worked with courseware providers to assemble 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. Materials are reviewed for accessibility as well as quality and integrity of the learning content. Through the partnership, Lumen's digital courseware is now available to CSU instructors as a low-cost textbook option for many general education courses.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2019/07/18/cal-state-adds-lumen-learning-courseware-to-menu-of-affordable-textbooks.aspx

University of Colorado: Use open educational resources (OER).

OER are materials that are available online at no cost. Think: free text books. Not only are they free, but research shows that students who use OER often get their degrees faster. To make sure OER are an option for students, CU Denver teaches faculty how to integrate them into their courses through OER Jumpstart, funded by university leadership and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education.

http://www.ucdenver.edu/faculty_staff/faculty/center-for-faculty-development/programs/OER%20Jumpstart/Pages/default.aspx

Ontario Schools Tally OER Savings with New Tool - Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology

A new tool from the eCampusOntario Open Library measures student savings from open educational resources (OER) usage. Impact, as it's called, recently calculated that students have saved some $4.5 million (Canadian) in "mandatory textbook fees" from Ontario instructors who use OER to replace at least one of their assigned resources. That total represented input from almost 100 educators teaching 41,150 learners attending 626 course sections in 34 institutions.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2019/07/09/ontario-schools-tally-oer-savings-with-new-tool.aspx?admgarea=news

Colleges aim to eliminate textbooks - Susan Thacker, Great Bend Tribune

Imagine completing a 60-hour college degree without buying a single textbook. The so-called Z-Degree may be a reality in the future, according to Barton Community College’s Director of Learning Services Lee Miller. Until then, Barton is moving toward the national trend of replacing expensive college textbooks with free or low-cost Open Educational Resources (OER).

https://www.gbtribune.com/news/local-news/colleges-aim-eliminate-textbooks/

UGA No. 2 for saving students on textbook money - University of Georgia

The University of Georgia was ranked No. 2 by OpenStax on a list of top 10 schools that have saved their students the most money through adoption of OpenStax free college textbooks in the 2017-18 school year. These textbooks helped 42,245 UGA students, according to data from Rice University-based publisher OpenStax. Savings from these textbooks saved students around $3.9 million, according to UGA data.

https://news.uga.edu/uga-no-2-for-saving-students-on-book-money/

GRCC students saved $3.3 million using free textbooks from OpenStax - MLive

Grand Rapids Community College officials say a 2016 partnership with an educational group to lower textbook costs is saving students millions of dollars. This past academic year, officials say students saved about $3.3 million in textbook costs through the college’s partnership with OpenStax. That’s $2.7 million more than the $589,828 students saved in 2016-17.

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/03/grcc-students-saved-33-million-using-free-textbooks-from-openstax.html

2.2M Students Used OpenStax Free Textbooks in 2018 - Calvin Reid, Publishers Weekly

OpenStax, a nonprofit based at Rice University that publishes free online peer-reviewed textbooks, reports that more than two million students at U.S. colleges used at least one of its textbooks during the 2017-2018 school year. The nonprofit also estimates that students saved $177 million using the free textbooks in the 2017-2018 year. The increased use of of OpenStax textbooks comes as the AAP reported that sales of higher education course materials fell 7.2% in 2018.

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/content-and-e-books/article/79320-2-2m-students-used-openstax-free-textbooks-in-2018.html

Free textbook program saves Grossmont College students thousands each semester - Jared Aarons, 10 News

Grossmont College is looking to expand a program that offers free textbooks to students. The Open Educational Resources program, or OER, allows students to download digital versions of textbooks for free. College officials say it can save students more than $1,000 each semester. In the 2018-19 school year, Grossmont students have already saved nearly $1.3 million. "We realized students were making decisions like, 'Do I want to buy food today or do I want to purchase my textbook?'" says Professor Dave Dillon, who has championed the program at Grossmont.

https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/free-textbook-program-saves-grossmont-college-students-thousands-each-semester

6 simple things every college student should avoid spending money on - Abigail Hess, CNBC

“Students think about tuition when they enroll in a course,” Michael Hansen, CEO of education company Cengage, tells CNBC Make It. “But textbook costs are often unexpected, and that makes it even more stressful.” According to a survey of 1,651 current and former college students by Cengage, 85% say that textbook and course material expenses are financially stressful, and 43 percent say they have skipped meals in order to afford these costs.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/01/simple-things-college-students-should-avoiding-spending-money-on.html

MAKE HIGHER EDUCATION AFFORDABLE - ConnPirg

Textbook prices have risen four times faster than inflation, leaving the average student now budgeting more than $1,200 every year for materials. After working to end tricks the publishing industry used to increase prices unfairly, We're fixing the broken marketplace by promoting free, openly licensed textbooks.

https://connpirg.org/feature/ctp/make-higher-education-affordable

The Next Evolutionary Step in MOOCs Will Be ‘Blockstore’, Says Robert Lue, from Harvard - Henry Kronk, IBLNews

Professor Robert Lue, the Richard L. Menschel Faculty Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard University, was involved in the creation of edX. He now believes that, for the full potential of MOOCs and open educational resources (OER) to be realized, the reign of the ‘course’ in open education needs to come to an end. The next step, he believes, will be the Blockstore.

https://iblnews.org/it-takes-a-network-to-teach-a-learner-robert-lue-believes-blockstore-will-bring-about-the-next-step-for-open-edx/

How to Get Hands-On with Machine Learning - Lisa Morgan, Information Week

If you really want to understand the capabilities and limitations of machine learning, you have to get hands-on. Here's a short list of options for beginners. The starting point differs for individuals based on their education and experience. However, the titles of resources may not necessarily reflect that fact. Following is a short list of resources with a bit of insight into their requirements and value. Deep learning, a subcategory of machine learning, has been omitted intentionally to keep the focus of this article on machine learning in general. Open ML (beta 2) describes itself as "an inclusive movement to build an open, organized, online ecosystem for machine learning". It builds open source tools for discovering and sharing data. Participants can pull the open data into their favorite machine learning environments and build models themselves or with the help of community data scientists.
https://www.informationweek.com/big-data/ai-machine-learning/how-to-get-hands-on-with-machine-learning/a/d-id/1335112

Innovative teaching seen to improve access, quality of education 0 SHARES 0 0 Janvic Mateo, The Philippine Star

The Department of Education (DepEd) has rolled out a new project promoting innovative teaching in public schools, which is seen to improve access and quality of education nationwide. In an aide memoire issued last week, Education Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del Pascua said the advent of technology has enabled educators to have more access to learning resources online. Pascua noted the existence of open educational resources (OER), or learning materials that are available for free for anyone to use, modify or share.
https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/education-and-home/2019/07/04/1931942/innovative-teaching-seen-improve-access-quality-education

Opening education resources for college students Brian K. Payne, Richmond.com

This is the time of year that new laws go into effect in Virginia. It also is a time when we can reflect on those laws passed a year ago. One law in Virginia receiving little fanfare was HB 454, a law requiring higher education institutions’ governing boards “to develop guidelines for the adoption and use of low-cost and no-cost open educational resources in courses offered at such institution.” The law was in response to the escalating costs of textbooks.

https://www.richmond.com/opinion/their-opinion/brian-k-payne-column-opening-education-resources-for-college-students/article_5a795e5c-60d8-5e8a-b311-d111a6a56f5b.html

Lumen Learning to Provide Delivery and Support for Carnegie Mellon's OLI Courseware - Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

Carnegie Mellon is working with open educational resources company Lumen Learning to provide delivery and support for courseware from the university's Open Learning Initiative (OLI). The partnership means that faculty and organizations will be able to adopt OLI courseware and access services from Lumen Learning to assist with courseware selection, onboarding, training, course setup and ongoing usage, including professional development support for faculty to teach effectively with OER-based tools, according to a news announcement.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2019/07/02/lumen-learning-to-provide-delivery-and-support-for-carnegie-mellons.aspx

Harrisburg leads open educational resources innovation in geology courses - Emma Gosalvez, Penn State

Open educational resources (OER) are transforming the landscape of higher education, allowing for more accessible and affordable learning. At Penn State Harrisburg, geology students are using digital rock kits and an open-access textbook in place of traditional rock packages and text, a change that has fueled student engagement. Through a partnership between Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) and the Penn State University Libraries, the ACT@PSU program revolutionizes faculty use of the traditional textbook. ACT@PSU supports instructors who want to teach courses through OER.

https://news.psu.edu/story/572499/2019/05/01/academics/harrisburg-leads-open-educational-resources-innovation-geology

2019-20 Alternative Textbook Grant Recipients Named - Autumn Miller, University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky is always looking for ways to ensure students have access to the best course material. With textbook prices on the rise, some students have decided to forgo buying textbooks. As an active contributor to student success, the UK Libraries started the Alternative Textbook Grant Program in 2016 to help faculty offer free or affordable course material. For the upcoming year, 10 grants are being awarded.

http://uknow.uky.edu/professional-news/2019-20-alternative-textbook-grant-recipients-named

New UNM website offers copyright information and help - Rachel Whitt, University of New Mexico

A new interdisciplinary campus resource offers students, staff and faculty at The University of New Mexico a central place to learn about copyright-related issues. The UNM Copyright Resource Guide is a collaborative effort between University Libraries, Information Technologies, University Counsel and Extended Learning. It covers a wide array of basic information regarding fair use, copyrighted material usage, copyright policies at UNM, trademarks and patents, and a myriad of other topics. https://news.unm.edu/news/new-unm-website-offers-copyright-information-and-help

Creative Commons Creates Search Engine with Over 300 Million Free Images - Jessica Stewart, My Modern Met

For now, CC Search is providing quality over quantity. In fact, Creative Commons wants to make its search engine a leading tool for creators. “CC will prioritize and build for users who seek to not only discover free resources in the commons, but who seek to reuse these resources with greater ease and confidence, and for whom in particular the rights status of these works may be important,” the non-profit writes.

https://mymodernmet.com/free-photos-creative-commons-search-engine/

How software is making textbooks obsolete - Ben Taylor, Best Techie

The simple solution to the textbook problem would be to give every student a PDF version of the book and ask them to look at the PDF anytime they needed to review the course material.Not only would this save trees, most schools wouldn’t have to purchase the technology needed for students to read a PDF on a mobile device. Many schools, even down to the elementary level, are now instituting “Bring Your Own Device” policies for students.

https://www.besttechie.com/how-software-is-making-textbooks-obsolete/

Albany Tech lowers textbook costs, soon some will be free - Grason Passmore, WALB

By January 2020, all general core textbooks will be free to students at Albany Technical College. This is all in an effort to help people afford to go to school. Albany Tech President Dr. Anthony Parker started the low cost textbook initiative last summer.


https://www.walb.com/2019/06/28/albany-tech-lowers-textbook-costs-soon-some-will-be-free/

OFFICIAL UNESCO RECOMMENDATION ON OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES MOVES ONE STEP FURTHER - Education International

Education International welcomes UNESCO global commitment to advancing access to works for teaching and learning through expanding access to quality and locally relevant open educational resources. EI welcomed the progress at the intergovernmental meeting of experts to examine a UNESCO draft Recommendation concerning Open Educational Resources (OER) held from 27-28 May in Paris, France.

http://infojustice.org/archives/41263

NWF State College Board of Trustees approves budget - Gatehouse Media Florida

The College is also focused on decreasing general education textbook costs for students. The average cost of a new general education textbook decreased from $87.03 in Spring 2018 to $79.29 in Spring 2019.To ensure consistency in instruction and reduce costs to students with bulk pricing, the College requires all sections of a general education course to utilize the same textbook. Exceptions are only granted for pilot projects or student benefit. One hundred percent of general education textbooks and instructional materials remained and will remain in use for more than one term.

https://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/20190627/nwf-state-college-board-of-trustees-approves-budget