“The Open Pedagogy Portal is an open repository created by the Open Education Network (OEN) as an online source for open pedagogy case studies, student work, and teaching/learning resources in higher education. The site officially went live August 15, 2023, and welcomes submissions. You do not need to be affiliated with an OEN institution to participate….”
“Join us on Tuesday October 3rd, at 1pm CET for a 1-hour webinar on Open Educational Resources about Open Science.
Open Educational Resources (OERs) can be defined as any freely accessible material for the purpose of learning, teaching and research. Open Science is about making scientific research and data available to people at all levels of society. Many researchers might want to start embedding Open Science practices into their research, but are ensure of how to avail of existing training opportunities and resources.
The purpose of this webinar is to provide participants with an overview of several OERs which have been designed for the purpose of learning about Open Science. We will hear from speakers who have contributed to the development of the following OERs:
PaPOR Trail: Principles and Practices of Open Research
AGAPE: An Introductory Course to Open Science for Early Career Researchers
FORRT: Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training
There will also be an opportunity to ask questions, and participants will be provided with information on how to engage with these resources.”
“We’re excited to announce that Aktiv Chemistry, an OpenStax partner, is releasing a homework platform for McMurry’s Organic Chemistry: A Tenth Edition. Aktiv Chemistry’s low-cost platform will help students practice and experience the material in new and productive ways through a molecule drawing system, integrated practice problems and exercises, and more. From in-class active learning, homework assignments, and now secure online quizzes and exams, Aktiv Chemistry’s all-in-one platform provides a comprehensive set of features for formative and summative assessments — increasing student engagement and improving student outcomes along the way.”
“On September 13, 2023, Open Education Global (OEGlobal) announced the winners of the 2023 Open Education Awards for Excellence as an OEG Live webcast. If you missed the excitement, you can watch it anytime….
This year the program received and shared nominations for more than 170 people and projects received from 38 different countries. The 20 member committee consisting of previous award winners and the OEGlobal Board of Directors reviewed the nominations to yield the shortlist of finalists and this collection of 16 Award Winners for 2023….”
“Folks, this is a big moment! We’ve been working towards an open textbook about scholarly communication librarianship for a long time. It was the core of our initial collaboration, which goes all the way back to 2016. A lot has happened (ahem) in the interim. Last fall we submitted the complete manuscript of Scholarly Communication Librarianship and Open Knowledge to ACRL. In May, we got the copyedited manuscript back and spent most of the summer working through changes. Recently, we reviewed two rounds of proofs, shared cover ideas with our designer and gave design feedback. Last week the formatted book went to the printer! Yesterday, we were in the September issue of The Syllabus from ACRL newsletter, and on Monday, we shared the beautiful cover, which we’re thrilled with.”
“Folks, this is a big moment! We’ve been working towards an open textbook about scholarly communication librarianship for a long time. It was the core of our initial collaboration, which goes all the way back to 2016. A lot has happened (ahem) in the interim. Last fall we submitted the complete manuscript of Scholarly Communication Librarianship and Open Knowledge to ACRL. In May, we got the copyedited manuscript back and spent most of the summer working through changes. Recently, we reviewed two rounds of proofs, shared cover ideas with our designer and gave design feedback. Last week the formatted book went to the printer! Yesterday, we were in the September issue of The Syllabus from ACRL newsletter, and on Monday, we shared the beautiful cover, which we’re thrilled with.”
Abstract: Interest in open educational resources (OER) has grown recently due to many external factors, including the restrictive, unsustainable and expensive business models for teaching materials that are being used by some publishers. In February 2021, the libraries of the UK White Rose University Consortium (White Rose Libraries) initiated a research project to explore the potential of OER and to create guidance in the form of an OER toolkit that could be used across all three institutions, and more widely. The project also aimed to seek improvements in the discovery of OER in the Ex Libris Primo discovery service which is used by all three libraries. This article outlines the methodology used to ascertain the needs of the libraries’ user groups to inform the development of the toolkit. A survey of academic staff across all three institutions was conducted, followed by user experience interviews. The survey findings established that more than half of respondents knew little or nothing about OER, and over half also said that they would be likely or extremely likely to consider using or adapting OER, clearly demonstrating the need for more awareness raising and guidance. The survey interview findings were then used to develop and refine the toolkit.
“At OpenStax, we are driven by a clear and powerful mission: to improve educational access and learning for everyone. Rooted in the belief that education is a public good, we strive to offer products, innovative research, and services that benefit educators and learners worldwide. Our approach is simple but impactful—we listen to the needs of the educational community, secure philanthropic support and community donations for funding, and embark on a rigorous development process.
Since our inception, OpenStax has grown to offer an impressive range of 65 textbooks, a testament to our commitment to providing comprehensive learning materials. Since our first textbook launch in 2012, we’ve already saved more than 36 million students an astounding $2.9 billion. This past school year, more than 7 million students utilized OpenStax materials….”
“Open educational resources (OER) have gained traction at colleges, universities, and K-12 schools. But with an emphasis on textbook prices and affordability, OER’s primary talking points have missed the mark with public libraries. Still, there are ample opportunities for open education to find a home in public libraries, from programming and digital literacy to makerspace repositories and more!
Join us for an informal conversation with Alex Houff (Digital Equity and Virtual Services Manager at Baltimore County Public Library) and Alex Sharp (Director of Library and Information Services at Tennessee Wesleyan University). This learning circle will be facilitated by Michelle Reed, Library Futures’ Research Manager and former Director of Open Educational Resources at the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries.
The event will be held over Zoom at 1 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, October 3. To ensure effective community discussion, the circle will be capped at 30 participants. It will not be recorded.”
“The next few years will see a continual increase in the amount of materials created by educational and aligned organisations, much of which will be accessible to peers, students and the general population across the globe. The opportunities for sharing Open Education Resources are greater than ever. This widespread change has led to many ethical and practical questions around ownership, hosting and copyright. This seminar explores the current OER landscape, looks at how some of these issues are being addressed, and highlights the opportunities presented by the growth of OER resources.
Why you should
Delegates will have a chance to hear from a variety of different perspectives, which will include how open resources can support teaching and learning, how resources are being developed and promoted, and how others have approached the creation and management of OER policies. This course is aimed at anyone who is keen to understand more about Open Educational Resources, with a view to creating them, making use of them for teaching and learning, or creating policies around them.
Who should attend
The seminar will be of interest to those working across the scholarly information industry, including publishers, librarians, teachers, lecturers, learning technologists, research support staff, other aligned professionals and students….”
“The key takeaways from this year’s survey are: • The return to classroom and in-person instruction post pandemic continues, though a small group of faculty report they only teach blended or online courses. • Faculty regularly incorporate a number student- and instructor-focused tools in their teaching. Every course is different however, as only textbooks, lecture slides, and online homework systems are used by more than half of faculty. • The overall reported use of inclusive access remained steady yearover-year; approximately 25% of respondents report using inclusive access at their institutions. We suspect there may be growing confusion about what inclusive access products are, as levels of awareness decreased in the same period. • There was a slight decline in belief amongst faculty that digital materials are as good of a learning option for students as print materials, and a strong belief that digital offers more flexibility; concerns about the cost of education for students remain high for both faculty and administrators. • OER awareness and use grew to the highest levels ever reported, continuing the trend: in 2022-23, 2 in 3 faculty were aware of OER, and 1 in 3 faculty required OER materials in at least one course …”
“As the shift toward a more digital classroom continues post-pandemic, faculty members and students alike are finding themselves more aware of and reliant on open educational resources.
Bay View Analytics, with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, conducts an annual survey focused on open educational resources, or OER. They are teaching and learning materials that are openly licensed, adaptable and freely available online. This year’s survey found that both usage and awareness of OER are at an all-time high, with nearly a third of instructors, 29 percent, requiring OER in their classrooms.
There was also a high awareness of OER, with 72 percent of faculty members stating they were “aware” or “very aware” of the resources….”
“Today we are excited to announce that Ithaka S+R is embarking on a one-year research project, funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, to assess the impact and implementation of open educational resources (OER) programs at public institutions of higher education. Through the project, we will develop a framework to guide sustainable OER adoption and implementation.
At their core, OER initiatives aim to increase student learning outcomes by reducing costs. Our project aims to explore how OER strategies have evolved to meet the needs of faculty and students. In particular, we will develop a holistic framework to assess the impact of OER programs and the challenges they face, paying particular attention to faculty perspectives, student learning outcomes, and equity and digital equity.
Drawing on lessons from the broader literature on teaching and learning initiatives in higher education, the project is guided by the following research questions:
To what extent are postsecondary higher education institutions concerned with sustaining open education initiatives?
What attributes do successful OER initiatives share?
How can institutions move from pilot to wider adoption?
What factors contribute to or inhibit the sustainability of new initiatives in postsecondary institutions? …”
“The Open Negotiation Education for Academic Libraries (ONEAL) project is a collaboration between Indiana University Purdue University – Indianapolis, Grand Valley State University, and Belmont University to develop curricula and open educational resources to support teaching negotiation education within academic libraries and in Master of Library Science (MLS/MLIS) programs. These educational resources will teach negotiation theory and strategy using academic library context of negotiating third-party content provider agreements. The curriculum developed will raise the capacity and skill of academic librarians to plan and execute negotiations for electronic resources with third party vendors moving libraries toward sustainability as well as improving access to resources for patrons. While targeted toward academic libraries licensing resources for research, teaching, and learning, the materials created also have the potential to benefit all library sectors (academic, public, school, and special) at the national and potentially global levels. Library science programs will have access to the OER, addressing an issue of strategic importance around maintaining collections.”
“Open educational resources (OER) are openly licensed, no-cost educational materials, such as free online textbooks, that have been shown to have a variety of benefits for students and their learning.
As the title suggests, Making the Case for Open Educational Resources is designed to assist OER advocates in their work to craft persuasive presentations, publications, and arguments as they promote OER.
Graphics displayed throughout the publication are available for you to download and use in your own publications, presentations, and on your advocacy website. Download the graphics.”