MERLOT Open Textbooks Project

The Student PIRGs and MERLOT have formed a strategic alliance promote use of open textbooks with the new Open Textbooks Project.   Visitors to MERLOT can now find open textbooks using the Open Textbook category under Advanced Search > Material Type.   See open textbooks listed at MERLOT.  MERLOT members are encouraged to provide evaluation and commentary on the listed open textbooks.  For details, visit MERLOT Innovations.

UNESCO discussion on OER Toolkit

You can join an online discussion about an OER Toolkit hosted by the UNESCO Community on Open Educational Resources (OER).   The session will take place on June 16 - 27, 2008 and will be open to everybody.  To participate in the UNESCO OER Toolkit discussion, please contact Catriona Savage (savage@unesco.org), UNESCO, Education Sector.

Open Education Nightmares: Forum

Open Education Nightmares: Will open education bear its promised fruits or release dreaded snakes?

Mark your calendars for a community discussion about open education. Prepare to post your ideas, hopes, and nightmares about open education resources, processes, and development.  Join the conversation at the Teaching and Learning Commons on June 16 - 19, 2008 (http://commons.carnegiefoundation.org/webevent).

“Advocates of open education resources, open source development, and open knowledge building all hope—even promise—to use and build on information in the public domain.  They do so in order to equalize access to information and educational opportunities for learners all over the world. Sponsors and individuals also build collaborative communities to create knowledge, objects and information for the public good, using information technology to spread their tools and resources widely. With such high expectations, we must ask:

• Is it working? How do we know? When will we know?
• Is the “open education movement” filled with overwhelming optimism?
• Is the movement changing the way we learn and how knowledge and resources are created, or is open education another form of patronage, whereby knowledge and information travel in one direction?

Please join our interactive webevent to discuss these issues and share your hopes and fears about open education. We invite you and your colleagues to explore the Teaching & Learning Commons’ resources, and share your own links to related work. Help build understanding of open education by exchanging your projects, thoughts and critiques in an open, online discussion.”

Please send your related links to richardson@carnegiefoundation.org.

CA BOG Adopts Textbook Rec.

The California Community Colleges Board of Governors adopted recommendations on May 5, 2008 developed through its statewide Textbook Summits to improve textbook affordability which include:  “Investigating other potential solutions on your campuses, such as creating textbook rental programs, increasing library reserves, encouraging the use of open educational resources, and negotiating with publishers for customized textbook editions, customized bundles, and the timing of new editions.” 

For details, see Recommendations to Reduce Textbook Costs to Promote Student Access and Success.  

In addition, a May 28, 2008 letter issued by the CA Community College Chancellor and President of the BOG states: “We want to recognize the leadership that many of you have already taken in your districts and colleges to improve textbook affordability. During the summits, we heard of many creative and well-run efforts that your colleges have already initiated. Just a few of those efforts include exemplary textbook adoption policies at Chabot and other colleges, collaboration through the Bay 10 Association of community college bookstores, textbook rental programs at Southwestern College, College of San Mateo and other colleges, the Textbook Affordability Taskforce at Los Rios Community College District, and the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources spearheaded by Foothill-De Anza. We want to specifically thank Roe Darnell, Chancellor of Yosemite Community College District and Hal Plotkin, President of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District Board of Trustees, who represented CEOs and trustees at our summits.”