Arkansas Tech University to Host Open Educational Resources Event on March 4 at Ross Pendergraft Library - Delia Reynolds, ATU

Learn About Open Educational Resources March 4: Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center at Arkansas Tech University to host informational session on open educational resources.

Ross Pendergraft Library And Technology Center At ATU To Observe Open Education Week 2024

Open Education Aims To Remove Financial Barriers To Educational Materials

ATU Session To Inform Students About Zero Textbook Cost Classes

ATU’s Engagement In Open Educational Resources Movement Sparked By Leadership Tech Project

https://www.bollyinside.com/news/technology/arkansas-tech-university-to-host-open-educational-resources-event-on-march-4-at-ross-pendergraft-library/

How Musselman Library, JCCTL are championing student success through affordable course materials - Gettysburg College

To help counter the rising costs of textbooks, Gettysburg College remains committed to affordable course materials through this initiative, which has expanded to include professional development opportunities for faculty. “The textbook affordability initiative is rooted in our equity mindset for supporting student success,” said Janelle Wertzberger, the assistant dean and director of scholarly communications at Musselman Library.

https://www.gettysburg.edu/news/stories?id=4c5b7226-d235-44e4-bd4f-b218003689b1&pageTitle=How+Musselman+Library%2C+JCCTL+are+championing+student+success+through+affordable+course+materials

Open education week at UNM - Sara Velasquez, University of New Mexico

Join us for an engaging week of events celebrating Open Education Week at The University of New Mexico (UNM). Organized by the UNM Open Educational Resources (OER) Group, these events are designed to raise awareness of current initiatives and honor the contributions of open educators across our campus. Open Education Week is an annual celebration dedicated to sharing and advancing Open Educational Resources (OER). OER are teaching, learning, and research materials that are freely available to the public or released under an open license, allowing for their use, modification, and sharing.

https://news.unm.edu/news/open-education-week-at-unm

Learn how CU Boulder educators use open educational resources (OER) - University of Colorado Libraries

Concerned about the rising cost of higher education for your students? Eager to ensure equitable access to course materials for everyone in your courses? Step into the world of open educational resources (OER) with the help of the University Libraries. We are hosting a panel discussion with CU Boulder educators who have created open educational resources (OER). This virtual discussion will take place March 4 from 11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. Registration required. Participants will receive the Zoom link the day before the event. “I love OER not just for free student access, but also because they allow access in perpetuity and permit use of the resource with a clear and transparent license,” said Alex Saltzman, assistant teaching professor and McNeill Academic Coordinator. 

https://www.colorado.edu/libraries/2024/02/16/learn-how-cu-boulder-educators-use-open-educational-resources-oer

Unleashing the Potential of Culturally Relevant Learning with OER - New America

OER can allow educators to provide culturally relevant instructional materials as some states ban or censor certain educational resources, particularly pertaining to stories about LGBTQ+ youth and students of color. In 2023 alone, 3,362 books were banned, restricted, or censored in U.S. public K-12 schools. 42% of the 3,362 books cover topics like youth health and wellbeing, 30% include characters of color or discuss race or racism, and 30% have LGBTQ+ characters or themes. Despite its potential, a 2023 study indicates that only 28% of teachers are aware of OER and Creative Commons licensing. However, over three-quarters of teachers create their classroom materials, possibly unaware that they are developing OER. 

https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/unleashing-the-potential-of-culturally-relevant-learning-with-oer/

Affordable Content Grants: OER@UNO - University of Nebraska Omaha

UNO Libraries is excited to announce the next round of Affordable Content Grants @ UNO. This is a great opportunity to undertake a project that will help students while also allowing for increased customization of teaching materials for your course or courses. Dozens of UNO faculty have taken advantage of this program over the past three years. You can read about faculty experiences with these grants via past Texbook Mavericks honorees, Steffi Jesseau and Zac Suriano, and Cameron Logsdon, Stephanie Larsen, and Abbie Syrek.

https://www.unomaha.edu/criss-library/news/2024/02/affordable-content-grants.php

Faculty Express Strong Interest in Affordable Access Programs at a Time of Deep Concern With Student Preparedness - National Association of School Stores

The top two areas where faculty wanted assistance from the college store were help with understanding affordability of course materials options (41% of faculty), and help learning about alternative course material models like inclusive access and open educational resources (OER) (also 41% of faculty). Despite a 92% awareness of OER and more resources available, faculty use of OER remained steady at 39%, up one percent since 2020. Print remains the most widely used course material format by faculty. In 2023, 72% of faculty used print materials. Intent to use courseware or adaptive learning platforms in the coming year remained steady at just under 32%.

https://apigateway.agilitypr.com/distributions/history/10e65bd3-e162-4cf2-b45a-d154988e15a9

Russian OER Textbook - University of Wisconsin Language Institute

This project is developing an online Russian language textbook that will be released as an open educational resource (OER). The focus of the textbook is on countries other than Russia that have Russian-speaking populations, as well as on minority groups within the Russian Federation. The project diversifies the voices available to students studying Russian, addressing a lack of representation in diversity in current Russian language textbooks. The urgency of the project has been heightened by the war in Ukraine and the increasing number of students studying Russian in Russian-speaking countries outside of Russia.

https://languageinstitute.wisc.edu/russian-oer-textbook/

Yeshiva University Libraries Take Proactive Steps Towards Affordable Education with Open Educational Resources - Paul Glassman , Justin Thomas and Emily Apterbach, the Commentator

Yeshiva University Libraries have set ambitious goals for 2023-2025, strategically incorporating open educational resources (OER) into their initiatives. OER includes a diverse range of freely accessible teaching, learning and research materials, including textbooks, articles, videos, software and more, all made available under an open license. We also encourage using materials that are available via Yeshiva University Libraries. The move to OER adoption and leveraging library-licensed materials as textbook alternatives aligns with the university's commitment to supporting student success by addressing the escalating costs of textbooks and promoting equitable access to essential course materials. 

https://yucommentator.org/2024/02/yeshiva-university-libraries-take-proactive-steps-towards-affordable-education-with-open-educational-resources/

SOURCES OF OPEN EDUCATION RESOURCES - ACDE Africa

Sources of OER - Internationally

• Merlot Teacher Education (Multimedia education resource for learning and online teaching) http://www.merlot.org/merlot/materials.htm?category=2276&&sort.property=overallRatin
• Connexions – http://cnx.org/
• OER Commons – http://www.oercommons.org/
• Open CourseWare Consortium – http://www.ocwconsortium.org/
• Open textbook sites (eg http://oerconsortium.org/discipline-specific/)
• Open access research sites (eg OpenDOAR, http://www.opendoar.org/index.html as well as DOAJ http://www.doaj.org/)
• http://www.icde.org/?module=Articles;action=Article.publicShow;ID=613
• http://www.oerafrica.org/OERRepositoriesOWCSearch/tabid/297/Default.aspx

https://acde-afri.org/sources-of-oer/

How using an e-board combined with open educational resources upgrades learning - Teaching with Tech, Samsung

Interactive whiteboards are effective tools in the classroom, helping to keep students engaged with what they’re learning. Also called e-boards, smart boards and interactive displays, these devices allow for more collaborative lessons and provide instant access to a vast library of open educational resources (OERs). Interactive boards for classrooms replace old-school chalkboards and dry-erase boards with digital technology, opening up a range of additional capabilities. A Samsung Interactive Display, for example, allows educators to create highly visual presentations, access digital resources, run multimedia files and annotate directly on screen. Multiple students — as many as 20 — can work on the screen simultaneously, and remote learners can view the content from their home devices.

https://insights.samsung.com/2024/01/08/how-using-an-e-board-for-teaching-upgrades-learning/

Scholarly Communication Librarianship and Open Knowledge - Maria Bonn, Josh Bolick, Will Cross, American Library Assn

The intersection of scholarly communication librarianship and open education offers a unique opportunity to expand knowledge of scholarly communication topics in both education and practice. Open resources can address the gap in teaching timely and critical scholarly communication topics—copyright in teaching and research environments, academic publishing, emerging modes of scholarship, impact measurement—while increasing access to resources and equitable participation in education and scholarly communication. Scholarly Communication Librarianship and Open Knowledge is an open textbook and practitioner’s guide that collects theory, practice, and case studies from nearly 80 experts in scholarly communication and open education. 

https://alastore.ala.org/content/scholarly-communication-librarianship-and-open-knowledge

OSUN Joins Open Education Network to Advance Educational Equity Through the Use of Open Materials - Bard College

The Open Society University Network (OSUN), of which Bard is a cofounder, recently joined the Open Education Network, a supportive community of more than 300 global members advancing the use of open educational resources (OER) and related practices to empower faculty, remove barriers to education, and enhance student success. OSUN’s membership in the network furthers its commitment to education equity through OER. “When we talk about the equitable classroom experience, that includes access to course materials,” said Meggan Houlihan, director of the OSUN Library Resources Program and member of OSUN’s OER Working Group. “If we can’t get students the materials they need, then it’s not an equitable learning experience. This is why OER is so important to OSUN.”

https://www.bard.edu/news/osun-joins-open-education-network-to-advance-educational-equity-through-the-use-of-open-materials-2023-10-18

Open Educational Resources to Promote Social Justice - CJ Ivory Angela Pashia - American Library Assn

Using Open Educational Resources to Promote Social Justice explores the opportunities and challenges of moving the discussion about open educational resources (OER) beyond affordability to address structural inequities found throughout academia and scholarly publishing. OER have the potential to celebrate research done by marginalized populations in the context of their own communities, to amplify the voices of those who have the knowledge but have been excluded from formal prestige networks, and to engage students as co-creators of learning content that is relevant and respectful of their cultural contexts. Edited by academic librarians with experience advocating across campus, Using Open Educational Resources to Promote Social Justice takes a multidisciplinary approach and is filled with examples of the ways OER and open pedagogy can be used to support social justice in education.

https://alastore.ala.org/content/using-open-educational-resources-promote-social-justice

WV Open Education Resource grants available - WVU

The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and the Community and Technical College System have announced the 2024 Open Education Resource grants for higher education. The grant was developed to help support faculty who are interested in creating or adopting open educational resources for use in college courses through new pedagogical models and encourage the development of alternatives to high cost course materials. This year, there will be three OER grant opportunities in addition to the general grant as part of the Open Learning WV program, a collaborative initiative by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and West Virginia Community and Technical College System. 

https://enews.wvu.edu/articles/2024/01/29/open-education-resource-grants-available

Open Educational Resources: CLIPP #45 - Mary Francis, American Library Association

The College Library Information on Policy and Practice (CLIPP) publishing program, under the auspices of the College Libraries Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, provides college and small university libraries analysis and examples of library practices and procedures.  In six sections—Introduction, Literature Review and Bibliography, Analysis and Discussion of Survey Results, Survey with Results, Resources from Survey Respondents, and Sample Documents—Open Educational Resources provides context for OER initiatives in college libraries and provides insights and strategies for librarians who are new to the topic, part of an existing OER initiative, or looking to form a program at their institution.

https://alastore.ala.org/content/open-educational-resources-clipp-45

This initiative is saving students millions of dollars in textbook costs - Michael Haederle, MSU Denver

At the start of each semester, students must dig deep into their pockets to buy pricey textbooks that instructors have assigned for their courses. But at Metropolitan State University of Denver, adoption of Open Educational Resources — books, videos and other instructional materials that can be downloaded, edited and shared for free — is growing. OER helps alleviate the financial strain on students, saving them $3.7 million since a cross-campus initiative was launched five years ago.

https://red.msudenver.edu/2024/this-initiative-is-saving-students-millions-of-dollars-in-textbook-costs/

UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources (OER) - OER Africa

UNESCO members states unanimously approved the OER Recommendation on November 29, 2019. It is the first international normative instrument to embrace the field of openly licensed educational materials and technologies in education and builds on almost two decades of UNESCO work on OER.The Recommendation pinpoints five essential areas of action to build and sustain a worldwide OER ecosystem:

Capacity-building;

Developing supportive policies;

Effective, inclusive, and equitable access to quality OER;

Creation of OER sustainability models; and

Use of international cooperation to foster OER.

https://www.oerafrica.org/resource/unesco-recommendation-open-educational-resources-oer

Do We Need a National Open Education Strategy? - David Wiley, Improving Learning

Imagine a group of education advocates working back in 1998. Imagine them campaigning against faculty assigning students to read webpages for class because there’s a cost associated with connecting to the internet from home. Now cast your mind forward to 2024 and imagine those same people still lobbying against using the internet in education – campaigning against online courses and online degree programs, emailing announcements to students, providing access to recorded lectures, or distributing a syllabus via the LMS. Lobbying against online class registration, online degree planning tools, filling out the FAFSA online, etc. All because connecting to the internet costs money. And making this argument in the name of equity. How relevant would a “no internet” higher education strategy be in today’s world? More importantly, how equitable would it be?

Generative AI will revolutionize the world to at least the same degree as the internet, probably much more so.

https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/7389

LC initiative aims to further reduce book costs, empower faculty and curriculums - Loredo College, LMT Online

This year, Laredo College is implementing the Open Educational Resources initiative that aims to transform textbooks from costly to cost-free, aiming to improve affordability and access while simultaneously broadening the diversity of curriculum.  This initiative is in part due to the overwhelming support of both LC President Dr. Minita Ramírez and the LC Board of Trustees. During the December LC board meeting, the Board unanimously voted in favor of adopting the initiative. 

https://www.lmtonline.com/local/article/laredo-college-initiative-targets-cost-free-18640474.php

UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES Students may avoid paying for textbooks at expense of academic success - Penn State, Peniversity Libraries/

Results of a statewide 2023 survey of undergraduate students, including those at Penn State, indicated that Pennsylvania students are more worried than their nationwide peers about textbook costs and may avoid purchasing them — often at the expense of their achievement in courses. The Course Material Affordability survey, conducted in spring and fall 2023 by Bay View Analytics in partnership with Affordable Learning PA (ALPA)/Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration and Innovation

https://www.psu.edu/news/university-libraries/story/students-may-avoid-paying-textbooks-expense-academic-success/

The role of open educational resources for affordable and accessible education Send to Kindle - Aman Verma, Financial Express

 India is one of the countries that has made significant progress in transforming its human resources into knowledge workers, but it still faces several challenges in the contemporary education sector. The quality of education, both in terms of infrastructure and academics, needs to be improved to match global standards. The availability of high-quality educational resources is one way to achieve this goal. Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Access (OA) can play a vital role in reducing the problems of accessing educational resources. The Indian government has initiated several innovative programs and schemes, such as SHAKSHAT, NMEICT, NPTEL, OSCAR, and E-grid, to develop and disseminate educational resources. However, implementing OER in Indian education still faces significant challenges, especially in lower-tier cities with limited technological tools.

https://www.financialexpress.com/jobs-career/education-the-role-of-open-educational-resources-for-affordable-and-accessible-education-3380293/

Did you know? Harvard University is offering 143 online courses for free - BROOKE VILLANUEVA, Philipine Star

In case you don't know, Harvard University has a total of 143 online courses that are being offered for free. They are classified into three difficulty levels—introductory, intermediate, and advance—with 12 subject areas including arts and design, business, computer science, data science, education and teaching, health and medicine, humanities, theology, mathematics, programming, science, and social sciences. Among the featured subjects are PredictionX: Omens, Oracles & Prophecies; Managing Happiness; Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles; Negotiating Salary; Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking; The Architectural Imagination; and more. You may find the complete list here.

https://philstarlife.com/geeky/999329-harvard-university-143-free-online-courses

Creative Commons CEO Catherine Stihler Concludes Time Leading the Organization - Gary Price, Creative Commons Announcement

On December 29, 2023, Creative Commons CEO Catherine Stihler announcd the conclusion of her time leading the organization. A successful 20th Anniversary Campaign that concluded in December 2022 led to more predictability for some of CC’s core program areas, due to multi-year funding commitments. Organizational highlights from Catherine’s tenure at CC include a year-long campaign of thought leadership and community consultation on AI & the commons, which culminated in the 2023 CC Global Summit. This was CC’s first in-person community gathering since 2019. We also launched the Open Climate Campaign in partnership with SPARC and EIFL, and the organization has invested deeply in the Open Culture sector. Both initiatives are the result of generous funding from Arcadia. These are achievements that we can all be proud of.

https://www.infodocket.com/2023/12/29/creative-commons-ceo-catherine-stihler-concludes-time-leading-the-organization/

Utilizing Open Educational Resources (OER) for the Revitalization of Indigenous languages - UNESCO

The Central African Republic is actively developing OER in Sanga, showcasing a commitment to linguistic diversity. Malawi stands out for distributing OER in national languages such as Chichewa, Tumbuka, Yao and Sena, ensuring wide accessibility to educational resources. Ecuador's noteworthy efforts include the creation of OER in indigenous languages like Kichwa and Shuar, contributing to the preservation of cultural and linguistic heritage. The report also highlights initiatives in New Zealand and Norway, where OER repositories house content in Māori and Sami languages respectively. During the recent OER Dynamic Coalition Webinar on the 1st anniversary of the launch of the International Decade for Indigenous Languages on 13 December 2023, discussions echoed the global diversity efforts and local initiatives. Emphasis was placed on collaboration and community engagement. 

https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/utilizing-open-educational-resources-oer-revitalization-indigenous-languages

Four-member DU panel to frame guidelines for review of School of Open Learning's self-learning material - Deccan Herald

'The committee will oversee the review of the School of Open Learning's self-learning material and formulate guidelines for review of the preparation of study materials in the future,' Delhi University's South Campus Director Shri Prakash Singh. The university's Academic Council and the Executive Council conditionally approved the self-learning material in August despite objections over its quality. The School of Open Learning was also instructed to review the materials and correct the mistakes.

2793993https://www.deccanherald.com/india/four-member-du-panel-to-frame-guidelines-for-review-of-school-of-open-learnings-self-learning-material-2793993

Affordable biology textbook saves CSU students money, makes learning engaging - Brooke Beresford, Colorado State University

Affordable biology textbook saves CSU students money, makes learning engaging. Tanya Dewey is presented with the Open Educator Award by Meg Brown-Sica, associate dean of research support and community engagement at the CSU Libraries. Tanya Dewey, an assistant professor of biology and associate chair of undergraduate studies at Colorado State University, seeks to provide access to essential resources at an affordable price and change how students learn the foundations of biology. By creating more dynamic labs and resources for students, Dewey hopes to make learning more engaging and affordable. That’s why she was presented with the CSU Libraries’ Open Educator Award, which acknowledges one teacher who actively fosters a culture of leveraging free academic resources and sharing knowledge.

https://source.colostate.edu/2023-open-educator-award-winner/

Partnership for Affordable Learning Materials (PALM) - University of Minnesota

Funds are available to support Affordable Learning projects in awards up to $10,000. The 2023 window is closed; look out for another call for proposals in Spring 2024. Review proposal elements and selection criteria.

The Libraries at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities & University of Minnesota Duluth have established an ongoing program to incentivize Affordable Learning course revisions through the adoption of openly-licensed instructional resources and Libraries materials in place of traditional commercial textbooks.

https://libguides.umn.edu/PALM

Amazon Offers Free AI Courses, Aiming to Help 2 Million People Build AI Skills by 2025 - Open Culture

Late last year, Amazon announced AI Ready, a new initiative “designed to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people globally by 2025.” This includes eight free AI and generative AI courses, some designed for beginners, and others designed for more advanced students. As the Wall Street Journal podcast notes above, Amazon created the AI Ready initiative with three goals in mind: 1) to increase the overall number of people in the workforce who have a basic understanding of AI, 2.) to compete with Microsoft and other big companies for AI talent, and 3.) to expose a large number of people to Amazon’s AI systems.

https://www.openculture.com/2024/01/amazon-offers-free-ai-courses-aiming-to-help-2-million-people-build-ai-skills-by-2025.html

Campus offers several ways to access textbooks - Valencia Luviano, the Connection

Students can access the books they need for classes by purchasing or borrowing physical textbooks, online eBooks or accessing Zero Textbook Cost material, a Los Rios program to minimize costly course material. Cosumnes River College Librarian and Open Educational Resource Specialist Andi Adkins-Pogue said traditionally, a student’s high school experience didn’t involve paying for textbooks and some students on campus may not be aware of their new responsibilities. “That can kind of be a turnoff, I think, especially when you’re talking about first generation students who maybe don’t have anyone in their family to help them navigate the systems,” Adkins-Pogue said.

https://www.thecrcconnection.com/news/2024/01/24/campus-offers-several-ways-to-access-textbooks/