OER Hackathon- Joanna Miller, Joanna M. Miller, & Scott Hubbard, CCCOER

A group of 30 faculty in myriad disciplines from across the Contra Costa Community College District (4CD) came together June 4 to create, curate and implement open educational resources in their classes. The five-hour OER Hackathon, sponsored by the LibreTexts OER US Department of Education grant, enabled instructors and librarians to work collaboratively as well as independently in a day designed to minimize presentations and maximize results.

https://www.cccoer.org/2019/07/23/oer-hackathon/

PPCC expands courses that use free online textbooks and classroom materials - Debbie Kelley, the Gazette

he average cost of textbooks for community college students nationally is an estimated $1,500 per year, according to the College Board. To help students lower the cost of education, PPCC for the second year will offer free "open educational resources," when classes resume Aug. 26. Open educational resources are publicly accessible, openly licensed and usually digital educational materials. They can be freely used, adapted, offered in print form and shared with little or no restrictions.

https://gazette.com/education/ppcc-expands-courses-that-use-free-online-textbooks-and-classroom/article_295a6c66-ad89-11e9-99a2-13690af618d2.html

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/