Increasing Access and Savings For Students - Rebecca Williamson, SDSU

 Books and course materials can be a daunting expense for university students around the nation as each semester gets underway. But San Diego State University is working to cut those costs in a collaboration involving the SDSU Library, SDSU Bookstore, Montezuma Publishing, Instructional Technology Services and faculty across campus.

https://newscenter.sdsu.edu/sdsu_newscenter/news_story.aspx

Harper professor wins national Faculty Innovation Award - Harper College News Bureau

Dave BraunschweigHarper College’s own Dave Braunschweig, professor of computer information systems, has won the Faculty Innovation Award for the American Association of Community Colleges’ 2020 Awards of Excellence for his work helping to save students more than $1 million in textbook costs.

https://www.harpercollege.edu/about/news/archives/2020/posts/091820.php

BCcampus Open Education Working Group Guide: Sustain a Working Group - JCALDWELL, BC Campus

 Sustainability in relation to OER is closely linked to the business model or approach that an individual, group or institution adopts to release, manage and support OER. It is not just about sustaining existing OER but about embedding processes and transforming practices to support ongoing OER production and release.[1]

https://bccampus.ca/2020/09/15/bccampus-open-education-working-group-guide-sustain-a-working-group/

Learning Hub Provides Much-Needed Distance Learning Resources - PETER RUDY, My Oregon

 With the move to distance learning during COVID-19 pandemic, ODE recognized the need for additional tools for educators. The Oregon Open Learning Hub was launched on the Open Educational Resources (OER) Commons to be a digital resource repository and collaboration space for Oregon educators, administrators and other educational partners to curate, create and remix educational resources. More than 50,000 open educational resources are available on OER Commons, searchable by grade level, subject and standard. It is a great place to find lessons and units that can be integrated into a learning management system to support both teacher-facilitated and applied learning.

https://www.myoregon.gov/2020/09/15/learning-hub-provides-much-needed-distance-learning-resources/

WSIS 2020 High-Level Dialogue on Open Educational Resources as a tool to combat inequalities

The specific importance of Open Educational Resources in our time was reiterated at this year’s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), an annual event gathering the global ‘ICT for development’ community, co-organized by UNESCO ITU, UNDP and UNCTAD. Under the overall theme Fostering digital transformation and global partnerships: WSIS Action Lines for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an online High-Level Dialogue was organized on 9 September 2020 to discuss the actuality of the OER Recommendation in today’s digital society, and the urgent need to speed up its implementation, under the theme “UNESCO OER Recommendation: Implementation in the age of Covid-19”.

https://www.miragenews.com/wsis-2020-high-level-dialogue-on-open-educational-resources-as-a-tool-to-combat-inequalities/

Revisiting Textbook Adaption Through Open Educational Resources: An Inquiry into Students’ Emotions Xiaodong Zhang, IRRODL

 The study showed that students’ initial positive emotions arose from their understanding of their own learning needs. Their positive emotions toward the conjugated use of OER and a textbook fluctuated over the semester but were gradually enhanced through their involvement in classroom practices (e.g., knowledge building and teacher mediation). Through the process, students’ positive and negative emotions respectively facilitated and hampered their learning practices; however, negative emotions were not always detrimental—they also facilitated students’ learning.

http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/4775/5336

How WTAMU Cornette Library is working to provide affordable class materials - Mitchell Downing, Prairie News

It is no secret that purchasing course materials can become expensive for college students. West Texas A&M University Cornette Library has partnered with Open Education Resources to provide more affordable options for students’ textbooks. The Open Education Resources webpage states that “Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse at no cost, and without needing to ask permission.”

https://theprairienews.com/24711/news/how-wtamu-cornette-library-is-working-to-provide-affordable-class-materials/

The Next Phase for Open Education - Hewlett Foundation

 Our Education team at the Hewlett Foundation been looking into this balance between teaching and content over the past year. As we embarked on a refresh of our grantmaking strategy for open educational resources (OER), it was apparent that the field was at an inflection point. Since OER’s inception almost two decades ago, we have advocated for well-designed, customizable, openly licensed materials to enable more responsive teaching and better learning. We now know that without equal or greater attention to educators and learners’ experiences, we are not going to see deeper learning outcomes for students across the spectrum.

https://goodmenproject.com/education-2/the-next-phase-for-open-education/

History Department and Libraries' Open Educational Resources Save U of A Students $50,000 - University of Arkansas

This summer, six historians worked together with the open educational resources librarian of University Libraries on a new course development project with open educational resources and affordable resources. The project resulted in saving over $50,000 for students who take the required core curriculum two-semester sequence in American history during the 2020-21 academic year. The project helped reduce the average cost of books in those two courses by 25% since last fall, to just over $36.

https://news.uark.edu/articles/54607/history-department-and-libraries-open-educational-resources-save-u-of-a-students-50-000

OpenStax to Double OER Textbooks - Lindsay McKenzie, Inside Higher Ed

Open educational resources publisher OpenStax plans to develop dozens of new free textbook titles -- doubling its current catalog of 42 textbooks. OpenStax has so far secured $12.5 million in grants to support this goal, including support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Support also comes from the Charles Koch Foundation and its parent nonprofit organization, Stand Together, formerly known as the Seminar Network. OpenStax aims to raise an additional $17.5 million to increase its catalog to nearly 90 textbooks.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/09/11/openstax-double-oer-textbooks

CVTC-Led Effort Publishes First Open Nursing Textbook - WEAU

Nursing students from throughout the country will soon be able to save thousands of dollars on textbooks as a result of work led by Chippewa Valley Technical College on open educational resource (OER) Nursing textbooks. The first of what will be five textbooks in the series, Nursing Pharmacology, was published this summer.
https://www.weau.com/2020/09/08/cvtc-led-effort-publishes-first-open-nursing-textbook/

Expanding the Classroom with Open Educational Resources - Bepress

In this webinar, Danielle Maestretti and Michelle Barron-Lutzross of bepress Consulting Services discuss ways to integrate OER into the institutional repository, a strategy that allows libraries to play a pivotal role in the success of OER on campus. We parse recent research on OER, describe strategies for faculty awareness and engagement, and share examples from successful OER collections in several IRs.
https://bepress.com/webinar/expanding-classroom-open-educational-resources/

How textbook alternatives can help reduce the cost of education - MacEwan University

A few years ago, Dr. Craig Blatz set out to make education more accessible for students in his psychology courses by introducing an open education resource (OER) textbook in his PSYC 212: Introduction to Research Methods course. Now, the associate professor uses OER, no-cost readings (journal articles that are open access or available through library subscriptions) or other low-cost alternatives in every single course he teaches.

“I try to cap textbook costs for my courses at $30,” he says. “If a student took all five of the courses I regularly teach, they would pay about $50 total for textbooks and resources.”
https://www.macewan.ca/wcm/MacEwanNews/FEATURE_OER_RESOURCES_20

ASU professors contribute to first open source AP US History textbook - Concho Valley

According to the statement, “Bartl contributed essays on the successes of the Great Society, Richard Nixon and Watergate, and media coverage of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. Heineman contributed essays on college campus protests in the 1960s and political backlash in the 1970s. Pierce contributed essays on the Women’s Movement, climate change and fossil fuels, Cesar Chavez and the Latino Civil Rights Movement, and the Rwandan genocide and U.S. foreign policy.”

https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/asu-professors-contribute-to-first-open-source-ap-us-history-textbook/

EKU receives $23,000 to develop zero textbook cost courses

The EKU Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Open Textbook Resources is awarding $23,000 in grant funding to three departments and four individual faculty who submitted proposals to develop zero textbook cost courses. This incentive grant program was made possible by an EKU Board of Regents Innovation Grant and will be implemented with ongoing technical and staff support provided by EKU Libraries.
https://www.lanereport.com/130434/2020/09/eku-receives-23000-to-develop-zero-textbook-cost-courses/

WT Librarian Joins Statewide Effort to Encourage Use of Affordable Class Materials

OER Ambassador. She joins librarians from Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University — Corpus Christi, Texas Tech University, Texas Woman’s University, the University of Texas and University of Texas at San Antonio. OER, or Open Educational Resources, are alternative options for course materials and textbooks that have open licenses from Creative Commons or are in the public domain.
https://www.myhighplains.com/news/education/wt-librarian-joins-statewide-effort-to-encourage-use-of-affordable-class-materials/

CUNY researchers on the cutting edge; win prestigious awards - Campus News|

City University of New York faculty researchers continue garnering competitive awards to support their cutting-edge work across a spectrum of fields.  The grants provide funding for a diverse array of projects including: Expanding Open Education Resources (OER), or no-cost, online educational materials.

https://cccnews.info/2020/09/01/cuny-researchers-on-the-cutting-edge-win-prestigious-awards/

Commentary: A revolutionary alternative to expensive college textbooks - Rafael Castillo, the Express-News

I’ve never forgotten the shock during my early college years when I went into my campus bookstore to buy textbooks. The reading list for some of my courses listed up to seven books. The cost of the biology and chemistry books alone were astronomical — even the alternative of renting books was financially burdensome. Today, the average college student spends more than $1,200 on books and materials over an academic year, according to the College Board.
https://www.expressnews.com/opinion/commentary/article/Commentary-A-revolutionary-alternative-to-15490105.php

Tarleton Joins OpenStax in Promoting Free, Flexible Textbooks - Tarleton State News

Tarleton State University announced it is one of 12 schools chosen to join the 2020-2021 OpenStax Institutional Partnership Network. As a participant Tarleton will work to encourage greater use of free, flexible textbooks among its faculty and students.
https://theflashtoday.com/2020/08/17/tarleton-joins-openstax-in-promoting-free-flexible-textbooks/

English Professors Create Program to Enhance Teaching and Enrich Student Engagement - University of New Haven

Drs. Sheffield and Isbell designed the program to enhance teaching by involving students in the process of course design before, during, and after a semester. They hope it will enable faculty to create and adapt high-quality open educational resources – freely accessible text, media, and other digital assets that are useful for teaching, learning, and research – and foster a culture of inclusiveness by, for example, helping professors be more flexible with students’ learning preferences.
https://www.newhaven.edu/news/releases/2020/davis-grant.php

Slashing textbook costs a priority for BCC instructors - Great Bend Tribune

A dozen different courses at Barton Community College are now offered with no textbook costs thanks to an effort by instructors to shift to other types of resources. The movement in higher education is called Open Educational Resources (OER). At Barton, it’s referred to as low-cost and no-cost. Low cost means there might be fees for materials or a book, but it would be less than $50.
https://www.gbtribune.com/news/local-news/slashing-textbook-costs-priority-bcc-instructors/

UNESCO launches an unprecedented training course on Open Education in Brazil - India Education Diary Bureau Admin

To create a certification for teachers and managers of Basic Education in all regions of the country, the UNESCO Office in Brazil launches in partnership with the Iniciativa Educação Aberta (Open Education Initiative) the first class of the Open Education Leader course. It is a free and online training, with a 60-hour workload, mixing synchronous and asynchronous moments, intending to create a network of educational leaders committed to educational transformation through the adoption of concepts and practices of openness and promotion digital rights.
https://indiaeducationdiary.in/unesco-launches-an-unprecedented-training-course-on-open-education-in-brazil/

Updates to the OER FAQ - Open Oregon

The target audience for the FAQ is faculty who want to learn more about finding, using, or creating OER; they may be able to answer their own questions with the FAQ, or they may realize that they need more help and find local or statewide contact info on the site. Each content page has a unique url, so librarians can copy/paste or link out to specific information when answering frequently asked questions.
https://openoregon.org/updates-to-the-oer-faq/

Texas launching digital textbook repository for college students - Brittany Britto, Houston Chronicle

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the state’s leading organization on higher education, will launch a digital repository of open educational resources, also known as OER, for Texas colleges and their students next week. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the state ’s leading organization on higher education, will launch a digital repository of open educational resources, also known as OER, for Texas colleges and their students next week. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the state’s leading organization on higher education, will launch a digital repository of open educational resources, also known as OER, for Texas colleges and their students next week. The digital resource platform aims to provide students with affordable, easily accessible online alternatives to costly textbooks or other course materials beginning Tuesday.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/education/article/Texas-launching-digital-textbook-repository-for-15520500.php

Inaugural UCT Open Textbook Award - University of Capetown

The inaugural UCT Open Textbook Award aims to incentivise innovation in teaching and learning, recognise the efforts of open textbook authors and promote the creation and reuse of open educational resources. I write to invite nominations for this award. Open textbooks are digital, free to use and openly licensed teaching materials. They can be broadly defined as digital collections of course-related teaching and learning content published under an open license on platforms and in formats that provide affordances for the legal integration of multimedia and the modification of various content components, as well as printing and redistribution.
https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2020-08-28-inaugural-uct-open-textbook-award

Instructors prepared for fully online semester - Jacob Peterson, the Connection

With the fall semester being fully online, professors and students will be utilizing both Canvas and Zoom. Over the summer, some professors had to familiarize themselves with both platforms. For many instructors at Cosumnes River College, the prospect of taking a traditional face-to-face class and transitioning it online was a big challenge. Being forced to do so quickly when the campus was forced into remote operations back in March was even harder.
https://www.thecrcconnection.com/features-arts-entertainment/2020/08/26/instructors-prepared-for-fully-online-semester/

EASING THE TRANSITION: HOW OPEN RESOURCES SUPPORT SHIFTS TO ONLINE, HYBRID INSTRUCTION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

Building on a long history of innovative open access advocacy, KU Libraries have actively combatted the far-reaching affordability problem by partnering with faculty on campus to adopt, adapt or create open educational resources (OER) for use in courses. 
https://lib.ku.edu/news/oer2020

Student Perceptions of Open Educational Resources Video-Based Active Learning in University-Level Biology Classes - Gary D. Grossman and Troy N. Simon, NSTA

We quantified student perceptions of an active learning exercise, based on open-educational video resources, in both a first-year seminar class (Natural Environment of Athens and Georgia, three sections), and a larger lecture class (Natural History of Georgia [FANR 1200, two sections), designed for nonscience majors. Evaluation of STEM pedagogical techniques over multiple classes and levels are uncommon.
https://www.nsta.org/journal-college-science-teaching/journal-college-science-teaching-julyaugust-2020/student

Slashing textbook costs a priority for BCC instructors - Great Bend Tribune

A dozen different courses at Barton Community College are now offered with no textbook costs thanks to an effort by instructors to shift to other types of resources. The movement in higher education is called Open Educational Resources (OER). At Barton, it’s referred to as low-cost and no-cost. Low cost means there might be fees for materials or a book, but it would be less than $50.
https://www.gbtribune.com/news/local-news/slashing-textbook-costs-priority-bcc-instructors/

Lamar State promoting free, flexible textbooks - PA News

Lamar State College Port Arthur selected by Rice University’s OpenStax to provide free textbook use. The cost of a degree or certificate at Lamar State College Port Arthur will soon get much, much less expensive. Port Arthur’s college is one of 12 schools chosen by Rice University to participate in the 2020-2021 OpenStax Institutional Partnership Network.
https://www.panews.com/2020/08/22/lamar-state-promoting-free-flexible-textbooks/