Mont Alto professor creates open educational resources textbook online - Credit: Penn State

Engineering professor Jacob Moore’s curriculum is truly an open book.  Moore began his career at Penn State Mont Alto in 2013 as an assistant professor, but he started working on an OER (open educational resource) in 2011 when he was in graduate school at Virginia Tech. He used a grant from the National Science Foundation to put the content of one chapter from a statics class on the site.

https://www.psu.edu/news/mont-alto/story/mont-alto-professor-creates-open-educational-resources-textbook-online/

OER Africa: Intiatives in African Higher Education

What have been the experiences of initiatives focused on Open Educational Resources (#OER) in #African higher education? What can we learn from these experiences? OER Africa researched several African OER initiatives to assess their long-term contribution to establishing sustainable OER practices in African higher education. We developed case studies on eleven OER initiatives in African higher education to gain an understanding of the effectiveness of each initiative, followed by an analytical summary report. Access all the materials here #openeducation #OERinitiatives #OERRecommendation https://www.oerafrica.org/content/researching-oer-initiatives-african-higher-education

https://www.saide.org.za/newsitem.php?id=110

Senators Cornyn, Coons Introduce Bill to Promote Civics Education

U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Chris Coons (D-DE) yesterday introduced the USA Civics Act, which would reauthorize an American history and civics grant program to promote knowledge of American political thought and history, free institutions, democracy, and participation in political and civic life: Grants from the USA Civics Act could also be used to partner with nonprofit organizations or government humanities programs, develop open educational resources, or pursue other activities consistent with the purposes of the bill. The modernized text also ensures researchers and educators funded through the grant have the academic freedom necessary to the robust study of American history and political life.

https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/node/6736

MOOC "Using and creating OER" - University of Graz, Austria

Based on the previous Austrian online courses, the OER MOOC was redesigned and produced in a uniform design. The MOOC has been freely available on the iMooX platform since 3 March 2022 and can be attended and completed at any time in self-study, independent of time and place. Graduates receive a certificate of participation.

https://www.openeducation.at/en/oer-training/

Miller Open Education Mini-Grants - Iowa State University

The Miller Open Education Mini-Grants program is a new program co-sponsored by the University Library, the Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT), and the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost (SVPP). These grants provide instructors with opportunities to enhance their scholarship of teaching and learning by integrating Open Educational Resources (OER) into their courses. You can learn more about these grants on the Miller Open Education Mini-Grants webpage and/or view the Iowa State University’s Open Education Resources website. 

https://www.celt.iastate.edu/grants-awards/funding/miller-open-education-mini-grants/

The MIT Press and Harvard Law School Library launch new series offering high-quality, affordable law textbooks - Kate Silverman Wilson, MIT News

Together, the MIT Press and Harvard Law School Library announce the launch of the “Open Casebook” series. Leveraging free and open texts created and updated by distinguished legal scholars, the series offers high-quality yet affordable printed textbooks for use in law teaching across the country, tied to online access to the works and legal opinions under open licenses. “As the creator of some of the earliest open online books and communities, the MIT Press is committed to increasing the impact and accessibility of scholarship,” notes Amy Brand, director and publisher, the MIT Press. “We are proud to collaborate with Harvard Law School Library on the Open Casebook series and provide high-quality, low-cost books to law students throughout the United States.

https://news.mit.edu/2022/mit-press-harvard-law-school-library-launch-open-casebook-series-0426

The Cost of College - Mohammad Ameen, the Independent

Open textbooks, which are free to read, inexpensive to print, and of good quality, are what the students need. They are written under an open license, which means they can be shared endlessly among classrooms. UMass Amherst and Salem State University have saved millions of dollars by creating grant programs for professors to create open textbooks. In addition, both schools saw an increase in performance and completion rates in classes that were using open textbooks, given students were not overwhelmed by paywalls when they got their textbooks.

https://www.independent.com/2022/05/15/the-cost-of-college/

Open educational resources help students save money - Rianne Herrera, the CR Connection

Librarian Andi Adkins-Pogue, who is the project lead of the Cosumnes River College’s OER Award Program, said the program hopes to help students save money by offering compensation for professors who pledge to modify their courses to fully utilize OER. “Part of it is just helping faculty understand that the cost of textbooks truly does impact our students,” Adkins-Pogue said. “50% of CRC students live below poverty or in low income and so that $50 or $100 could be used for groceries, or to help pay their rent, or to help pay for childcare or a car payment.” Switching to OER is not without its hurdles, and the question remains whether the effort professors must put into modifying their courses can be justified.

https://www.thecrcconnection.com/news/2022/05/18/open-educational-resources-help-students-save-money/

OPEN ACCESS - Wittenberg University

OhioLINK, the statewide academic library consortium, recently awarded more than $17,000 to 29 faculty members from 15 Ohio colleges to help them learn about teaching with no-cost course materials versus traditional textbooks. The announcement was part of the Open Education Week celebration that took place this spring. Wittenberg is a member of OhioLINK, which, as part of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, manages initiatives that reduce the cost of attending college in Ohio.

https://www.wittenberg.edu/news/06-14-22/open-access

153 universities’ repository hosts over 2 million open educational resources- NUC - Daily Trust

The Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, (NUC), Prof Abubakar Rasheed, has disclosed that its Open Educational Resources, (OER), repository established in 2017, currently has over two million OERs in the form of courseware, lecture notes, textbooks, videos, maps, podcast, conference presentations, and journal. He said the commission established the repository and named it the Nigerian University System Open Educational Resources, (NUSOER), in its bid to fully encourage the institutionalisation of the use of OER.

https://dailytrust.com/153-universities-repository-hosts-over-2-million-open-educational-resources-nuc

Over $3.25 million in NSERC grants for two unique University of Ottawa projects - University of Ottawa

Alarcon and Flynn received a $1.62 million grant for their project Program and INterdisciplinary Training in BIOmedical TECHnologies (INTBIOTECH). Driven by a collaboration with UdeM and ETS, and several private partners, this bilingual program is based on interdisciplinary creation of new biomedical materials. It’s inspired by leading-edge graduate studies pedagogical practice, to offer comprehensive training with EDI, cross-cutting skills and resilience featured prominently. In addition to being taught by internationally-known scientists, students enrolled in the program will benefit from public and private sector internships and exchanges, in Canada and abroad. They will look at entrepreneurship, bioethics, intellectual property and regulatory standards, including risk assessment. Training material produced as part of this project will also be published as open educational resources.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/955535

UNC Press initiative aims to tame the soaring and burdensome cost of textbooks - Joe Killian, NC Policy Watch

This month the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics released a new edition of Contemporary Precalculus Through Applications, the popular book and the only text in the school’s precalculus courses. But this new edition is available digitally, for free, to not just students at the elite residential high school but high school and college students all over the state. The move is part of a partnership between NCSSM — the only high school that is part of the UNC System — and the nonprofit UNC Press. Print copies of the book’s last edition, published by textbook giant McGraw-Hill, are now going for $50 on Amazon.

https://ncpolicywatch.com/2022/06/08/unc-press-initiative-aims-to-tame-the-soaring-and-burdensome-cost-of-textbooks/

Open Educational Resources Collective - CAUL

The CAUL Open Educational Resources Collective will provide a shared open textbook publishing platform for participating CAUL Member institutions. It will facilitate both independent publishing by authors at participating institutions, as well as collaborative, cross-institutional publishing. The Collective will also build community and capacity across CAUL Member institutions to support open textbook publishing. 

The Collective has three objectives:

Build infrastructure, capacity and achieve tangible outcomes to move the OER agenda forward at a national level.

Facilitate collaborative authoring and publishing of open textbooks in targeted priority disciplines, with a preference for the inclusion of local and/or indigenous content.

Allow Member institutions to publish their own textbooks (anticipated to be up to two per year) in disciplines of their choosing.

https://www.caul.edu.au/programs-projects/enabling-modern-curriculum/oer-collective

Report: “OER Resources to Help Equip Growing Field of ScholComm Librarianship” - Gary Price, SPARC

More than 70 authors have contributed to an open textbook for teaching scholarly communication, Scholarly Communication Librarianship and Open Culture, now scheduled for publication by ACRL in 2023. The team is also developing an online community/repository —(Scholarly Communication Notebook) — designed as a hub to exchange information and empower others interested in the growing profession. Through a competitive awards process, over 30 individuals were selected to develop resources for the notebook.

https://www.infodocket.com/2022/06/07/report-oer-resources-to-help-equip-growing-field-of-scholcomm-librarianship/

Final steps towards global OER Recommendation - OpeningupSlovenia

The OpeningupSlovenia think tank partners have been working on the UNESCO OER Recommendation for the past four years, and on May 28th the last version of the policy was accepted by UNESCO member states. Its final step for approval will take place at the UNESCO General Assembly in November, 2019. The final text of the document will be now coordinated and translated by UNESCO and they will publish it prior to the November meeting.

https://ouslovenia.net/final-steps-towards-global-oer-recommendation/

Accessibility, OER and Distance Education: Preparing for the Future - OER Commons

Since May 2019, the AEM Center has facilitated a #GoOpen Accessibility Community of Practice to seek creative solutions to the OER accessibility challenges facing the #GoOpen Network.. The goals of the Accessibility CoP were informed by a series of listening calls with #GoOpen States and districts. . Our current activity is the development of an OER curation protocol based on the best practices outlined in the Accessibility Checklist in ISKME's OER Curation Framework for School Librarians. The rapid move to remote learning in response to COVID-19, and the challenges many school districts are facing in making sure students with disabilities have access to materials, , has made the development of such a protocol even more relevant and urgent for educators and families.

https://www.oercommons.org/courses/accessibility-oer-and-distance-education-preparing-for-the-future

Open Educational Resources: OER and Equity - Madison College

 Open Educational Resources (OER) go beyond saving students money. They afford an opportunity to provide culturally relevant and responsible classroom materials in which all students see themselves reflected. Traditional textbooks, learning objects, and literature are often presented from a single dominant viewpoint, and packaged for mass production across a wide range of educational markets. OER allows for inclusion of previously excluded voices, and students can be actively engaged in the learning process. Utilizing student voices, experiences, and viewpoints through the use of open pedagogy leads to a more engaging learning environment. Beginning small with a few assignments, readings, or lessons can be a great way to get started. 

https://libguides.madisoncollege.edu/OER/equity

Driving Educational Equity Through Open Educational Resources: A Replicable Model

This webinar includes a panel of educators from Alberta, Canada who will share a replicable model of curating open educational resources (OER) to make student-facing curriculum and professional development resources readily available to all members of their learning communities. At a time when learning needs have never been greater, this webinar is designed to provide a vision for addressing learning gaps within schools and districts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezYkfN7lpDs

Free Is Good - Bethany Rayl

Open educational resources (OER) are found in the public domain and can be used for free for teaching, learning, research, and other educational purposes. These materials can be retained, reused, revised, remixed, and redistributed. These “5R permissions” of OER allow you to not only access the materials and resources free of charge, but also to make them even better. Sounds good, right? But what’s really out there, and why should you use these resources?

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/free-good-bethany-rayl

Open Educational Resources - Florida Atlantic University

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse at no cost. Unlike fixed, copyrighted resources, OER have been authored or created by an individual or organization that chooses to retain few, if any, ownership rights (OER Commons, CC BY-SA).  The US Department of Education includes in its definition that OER are materials in the public domain (free of copyright protection) or ones that are available for use by intellectual property licenses that allow free use or repurposing by others, such as Creative Commons.

https://libguides.fau.edu/oer

Open Research: a Practical Guide - University of York

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are teaching, learning and research materials which are free to access and openly licensed. OERs can be in any format, including online courses, textbooks (see right), activities and games, videos and software. In many cases OERs are built on the findings of open research, and should be similarly licensed to maximise their usability. 

https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/openresearch/oers#:~:text=Open%20Educational%20Resources%20(OERs)%20are,and%20games%2C%20videos%20and%20software.

The OER Starter Kit for Program Managers - Abbey K. Elder, et al; Rebus

The OER Starter Kit for Program Managers was created to bring attention to the work that is involved in building and managing an OER program, from learning about open educational practices and soliciting team members to collecting and reporting data on your program’s outcomes. Regardless of your program's scope and your own experience with OER, we hope that the Starter Kit for Program Managers will have some tips to help you along your way.

https://press.rebus.community/oerstarterkitpm/

Open Educational Resources - University of Buffalo

This is a collection of guidance, tips and suggestions for the communities we serve. These resources come from our expert faculty, dedicated alumni and passionate students who continue the work outlined in our mission statement: The Graduate School of Education is an inclusive community that works to improve educational, social and economic opportunities for people and communities. This is a developing list. Please stop back in for updates and new material.

https://ed.buffalo.edu/about/community/resources.html

Saving students money: Delta's OER initiative reaches new milestone - Midland Daily News

Since 2016, Delta’s Open Educational Resources initiative has saved students a total of $1 million in textbook costs. OER are textbooks and other course materials that are licensed Creative Commons and are freely available online to use, share and modify. Michele Pratt, manager of Library Programs and Services and OER Committee co-chair, said the effort began to help with student success. Students saved more than $142,000 during the winter 2022 semester alone.

https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Saving-students-money-Delta-s-OER-initiative-17202926.php

An Interview with Holly Gabriel and Larry Shrewsbury on Open Educational Resources at SOU - Claire Grant, the Siskiyou

 The Siskiyou recently had the opportunity to speak with Open Educational Resources advocates Holly Gabriel and Professor Larry Shrewsbury about what this program has to offer at SOU. Both faculty members at the university, The Siskiyou asked what OER means to them, and how it can help SOU and its students. Here’s what Open Access and Governmental Resources Librarian Holly Gabriel, who also leads the efforts in OER, had to say about the program. 

https://siskiyou.sou.edu/2022/05/27/an-interview-with-holly-gabriel-and-larry-shrewsbury-on-open-educational-resources-at-sou/

Two CAS Faculty Win Outstanding Innovation in Teaching with Technology Award - Daniel Hawkins, University of Nebraska Omaha

Cecilia Tocaimaza-Hatch, Ph.D. and Tara Toscano, MA, faculty members in the College of Arts & Sciences, were recently awarded the Outstanding Innovation in Teaching with Technology Award. The award was presented virtually at UNO’s 2022 Digital Learning Showcase on May 10, where the two recipients later gave well-attended presentations on remote experiential learning opportunities and on humanizing and effective grading strategies in online courses.

https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-arts-and-sciences/news/2022/05/two-cas-faculty-win-outstanding-innovation-in-teaching-with-technology-award.php

Lehigh Valley holds first-ever conference devoted to open, affordable resources - Penn State

During the past few years, many Penn State Lehigh Valley faculty members have made it a priority to incorporate open and affordable educational resources (OAER) into their classroom instruction. That commitment was on vivid display at the first-ever Penn State Lehigh Valley Open and Affordable Showcase, a half-day conference sponsored by the campus Library and Academic Affairs. There, attending faculty and staff had the chance to recognize and celebrate OAER-related work at the campus, and to advance the importance of the resources in regard to student access, affordability and retention.

https://www.psu.edu/news/lehigh-valley/story/lehigh-valley-holds-first-ever-conference-devoted-open-affordable-resources/

Strengthening digital infrastructure: A policy agenda for free and open source software - Frank Nagle, Brookings

Much of the discussion around digital infrastructure has focused on broadband availability (which is certainly important), but the role of free and open source software (FOSS or OSS) has gone underappreciated. FOSS—software whose source code is public, is often created by decentralized volunteers, and can be freely used and modified by anyone—has come to play a vital role in the modern economy. I present 11 policy proposals separated into four domains of focus: creating an open source program office; measuring and understanding the FOSS ecosystem; enhancing the positive economic impact of FOSS; and securing the FOSS ecosystem. Although there is no silver bullet for guaranteeing the future health and growth of FOSS, these proposals will go a long way towards ensuring FOSS can continue to play its essential role in enabling the modern U.S. economy to grow and flourish.

https://www.brookings.edu/research/strengthening-digital-infrastructure-a-policy-agenda-for-free-and-open-source-software/

Checking for accessibility: boosting opportunity in 3 clicks! - Microsoft Education Team

As more educators have adapted to meet the needs of blended and hybrid learning, the amount of teacher-generated and curated content has increased dramatically. Open education resources (OERs) are being accessed by many more students, teachers, and education staff as well. Regardless of the source of the content—a traditional publisher, OER, or educator—ensuring that all learners can access all resources is a top priority for institutions, and schools need efficient, user-friendly ways to verify that their content both meets the needs of students and is in compliance with regulations. Checking for Accessibility, the second in a series of five Microsoft Education “Accelerate Learning Kits,” explores this topic.

https://educationblog.microsoft.com/en-us/2022/05/checking-for-accessibility-boosting-opportunity-in-3-clicks