[IRTalk] Fwd: [Open-education] [The OER Digest] State Goes Open, White House too

Fri Mar 18 12:26:12 SAST 2016

FYI.

*Hilton Gibson*
Stellenbosch University Library
*http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2992-208X
<http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2992-208X>*

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ethan Senack <esenack at pirg.org>
Date: 17 March 2016 at 20:41
Subject: [Open-education] [The OER Digest] State Goes Open, White House too
To: oerdigest at gmail.com

By Ethan Senack, Student PIRGs | Volume 9 | March 17th, 2016
*With the help of Nicole Allen, Doug Levin, Cable Green, and Nicole
Finkbeiner*

*THE OER DIGEST*
Your tip sheet for U.S. OER updates, opportunities, and reminders

* STATE GOES OPEN:* As part of Open Education Week, the U.S. State
Department posted a blog
<https://blogs.state.gov/stories/2016/03/11/celebrating-open-education-week-open-educational-resources>
on OER by Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs Evan Ryan, a high ranking official. The post includes
a clear affirmation that “open” is more than just “free,” discusses the
steps that the administration has taken to support OER, and what's coming
up next.

   - GREAT QUOTE: "Making more resources available is only the beginning."
   - TO RETWEET: https://twitter.com/StateDept/status/708435436897759233

*SOURCING SOFTWARE:* White House Chief Information Office Tony Scott
published a blog
<https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/03/09/leveraging-american-ingenuity-through-reusable-and-open-source-software>
last week on open source software, announcing a Federal Source Code Policy
that they're opening for public comment. As part of the Second Open
Government Partnership National Action Plan, the WH policy would "require
new software developed specifically for or by the Federal Government to be
made available for sharing and re-use across Federal agencies."

   - SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: https://sourcecode.cio.gov/

*TO BE CLEAR: *From Doug Levin at EdTech Strategies, "Many of us have
observed that recent media coverage of the U.S. Department of Education's
GoOpen initiative has included some unfortunate inaccuracies in
characterizing what it means for a resource to be 'open' as opposed to
being free or digital." In response, a group of organizations have
developed a basic fact sheet/FAQ on OER for K-12 educators. The FAQ
(licensed CC BY) can be re-distributed to help clarify OER for educators,
policymakers, members of the media, and other stakeholders. See it here.
<http://form.openeducationweek.org/resource/oer-for-k12-educators-faq/>

* CUSTOM STAX:* OpenStax, the open textbook publisher, announced a
partnership with NACSCORP and Dover Publications to allow faculty members
to customize OpenStax books. The platform will show faculty the print cost
of the book in real-time as they add or remove pages and make additional
changes. Students will then be able to purchase print versions of the book
their their campus store. Read the press release.
<http://www.newsroomamerica.com/story/555439.html> And, if that weren't
enough, OpenStax also just released a new Calculus textbook and a host of
supplementary materials.

* SHARING IS CARING:* The American Federation of Teachers just relauched
their lesson plan and teaching material sharing site sharemylesson.com. The
site has more than 900,000 registered users, and all submissions are either
licensed as CC BY-NC-SA or CC BY-NC-ND. Originally launched by AFT and TES
Global back in 2012, the site just got a big, shiny, new update.

*SPEAKING OF:* TES Global, the UK-based education company recently released a
report <http://www.tesglobal.com/teachertech2> saying that 3 in 4 faculty
report using OER more than textbooks in their classrooms. Without seeing
the questions or the methodology, it's tough to interpret the extent to
which 'open' was differentiated with 'free and online,' but in any case,
the report shows significant growth of technology use in the classroom.

* IOL:* The Open Policy Network's newest class of fellows in the Institute
for Open Leadership are meeting in South Africa right now. For severe
scenic jealousy, check out some of the photos with #IOL2.
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/iol2>

*** Want your colleagues or friends to get the Digest? Send them this link:
<http://bit.ly/get-the-oer-digest>http://bit.ly/get-the-oer-digest* ****

* It's Thursday, March 17th*. It's officially March Madness, and as a UConn
alum, I'm contractually obligated to mention that we've won 2 Men's and 3
Women's tournaments in the past 5 years. Tweet me any bracket tips
@HigherEdPIRG. Don't forget to send tips, updates, opportunities, and
feedback to <esenack at pirg.org>esenack at pirg.org.

*OPEN CONNECTIONS*
Conference, job, and other OER-related opportunities

*CALL FOR PROPOSALS: BCCAMPUS* is hosting The Festival of Learning in the
Vancouver area this coming June, and is looking for workshop proposals on
open education and other edtech subjects. Proposals are due March 21st. See
the call> <https://festival.bccampus.ca/call-for-proposals/>

*CALL FOR PROPOSALS: iNACOL* is hosting their Blended and Online Learning
Symposium in San Antonio, Texas, this October. Proposals are due March
23rd. See the call>
<http://www.inacol.org/symposium/program-presenters/presentation-opportunities/>

*FELLOWSHIP:** CCSSO* is looking for an OER Fellow to conduct research,
identify resources, and write original content for CCSSO’s OER Portal
website. See the job description> <https://www.dcjobs.com/j/16775080>

*JOBS: CREATIVE COMMONS* is looking to fill three positions; Director of
Engineering, Communications Manager, and Development Manager. See the job
descriptions>
<https://blog.creativecommons.org/2016/03/08/new-job-opportunities-at-creative-commons/>

Have an opportunity you want featured? Email it to <esenack at pirg.org>
esenack at pirg.org.

*STORIES FROM THE FIELD*:
Brief snapshots from the ground level

*VIDEO BREAK:* Affordable Learning Georgia is out with a new video, called *I
Am Affordable Learning Georgia*. The 2-minute video features interviews
with grantees about their work with OER. Here's a great quote: "They do
contribute to building a greater sense of community between students and
each other, as well as students and the professor, by showing students that
professors actually care about them." Watch the video>
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv2XwneeAaw>

*FROM ACROSS THE POND:* From the Open Scotland
<http://openscot.net/higher-education/university-of-edinburgh-approves-new-oer-policy/>
blog - "As part of its ongoing commitment to open education, the University
of Edinburgh has recently approved a new *Open Educational Resources
Policy*, that
encourages staff and students to use, create and publish OERs to enhance
the quality of the student experience. The University is committed to
supporting open and sustainable learning and teaching practices by
encouraging engagement with OER within the curriculum, and supporting the
development of digital literacies for both staff and students in their use
of OERs. Read the Policy> <http://open.ed.ac.uk/about/>

*SYLLABUS:*
Interesting Reads on Education and Open

*Who Owns Digital Learning Resources Funded by Taxpayers?* | Hal Plotkin
https://medium.com/@hplotkin/who-owns-digital-learning-resources-funded-by-taxpayers-543160cbf1f4#.71aiz0r6t

*How to Go Textbook Free (the UMUC story) *| Campus Technology
https://campustechnology.com/Articles/2016/03/09/Textbook-Free.aspx?Page=1

*The Textbook Challenge: Two Sides of the Debate* | The Pierce Pioneer
http://piercepioneernews.com/10113/campus/the-textbook-challenge-two-sides-of-a-debate/

*Print is NOT dead* | The Fullerton College Hornet
http://hornet.fullcoll.edu/print-is-not-dead/

Find archived volumes at http://studentpirgs.org/sp/oer-digest.

-- 
Ethan Senack
Higher Education Advocate
U.S. Public Interest Research Groupwww.uspirg.org
@HigherEdPIRG
(202) 546-9707 x321

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