OER Digest – June 26, 2025
Michael Basmajian | Volume 192 | June 25, 2025
THE OER DIGEST
Your monthly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders
OPEN CONNECTIONS
Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities
WEBINAR: The Rebus Foundation invites you to attend the next session in their summer webinar series: Open Pedagogy Basics. The webinar, which takes place on July 16th at 2:00 PM ET, will explore how open pedagogy transforms classrooms into collaborative spaces where students co-create knowledge through OER, non-disposable assignments, and community projects, fostering critical thinking and meaningful assessment.
VIRTUAL CONFERENCE: Clover Park Technical College invites you to attend AI + OER Institute 2025 on Friday, August 8th, and Saturday, August 9th, 2025. This free virtual conference brings together educators, administrators, and instructional designers to explore the intersection of generative AI in higher education and OER. Learn from experts, engage in discussions, and discover practical strategies for integrating AI and OER to enhance teaching and learning.
OPEN EDUCATION 101: SPARC is pleased to announce Open Education 101, a series designed to provide an entry point to open education work as well as a refresher for those already engaged in this field. This four-part series will cover foundational knowledge, practical applications, and emerging trends to help you understand, implement, and advocate for open education in your institutional context. The first session, “Open Education Foundations” is on August 13 from 2-3pm ET.
JOB OPPORTUNITY: Northern Kentucky University’s W. Frank Steely Library is currently inviting applications for an Open Strategies Librarian. This teaching professor faculty position will be responsible for leading, sustaining, and developing new course material affordability programs, including an established OER program as well as supporting the scholarly communication, copyright/intellectual property, and institutional repository work of the library.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: Nominations for Open Education Global’s 2025 Open Education Awards for Excellence are open from June 9 until July 21. The 2025 Nomination Guide contains all the information you need to nominate an individual, organization, asset, project or practice for an award.
NEW RESOURCE: LibreTexts has recently released a platform calledThe Forge, which is an assignment platform specifically built to advance Open Pedagogy and provide actionable insights through integrated analytics. The platform enables LibreTexts-verified instructors to design renewable, collaborative long-form assignments and gives students meaningful opportunities to produce public-facing, openly licensed work. LibreTexts also recently launched their Academy Online, which offers a number of professional development opportunities to help grow your open education programs, develop ZTC pathways, and curate OER.
PODCAST: The Internet Archive and Authors Alliance have launched Future Knowledge, a podcast about creativity, knowledge, and policy in the digital age. Each episode features engaging conversations that explore how knowledge is created, shared, and preserved today.
STORIES FROM THE FIELD
Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted
FROM GEORGIA: Georgia State University recently honored Cyntoria Johnson, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, with an OER Excellence Award for her outstanding efforts to make learning more accessible and affordable through the use of OER. Through this initiative, Johnson and her colleagues have saved students in the department more than $1.1 million in textbook costs. Johnson was one of 10 faculty across the university honored during the OER Excellence Awards ceremony, a part of Georgia State’s Open for Student Success Symposium in March. The initiative is coordinated by the University Library with GSU’s Student Government Association and Student Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). “Of all the honors I’ve received as faculty in the past 14 years, this one has to be the most special to me because the nominations came directly from the students,” Johnson said. “Their outpouring of support and appreciation at the awards reception was so moving.” Read More >>
FROM IOWA: Thanks to the input and hard work of Iowa teachers, students, and AEA Science Consultants, students in Iowa now have access to a free, high-quality OER science curriculum called OpenSciEd. Iowa is one of ten partner states currently finishing up 7 years of field-testing the OpenSciEd curriculum. Over 1800 students and 149 teachers from 43 districts across our state have participated in this project. They provided input into the design specifications, development, and revision of all 58 units for grades K-12. Iowa’s AEA consultants and several classroom teachers were part of the OpenSciEd writing and revision teams. The OpenSciEd curriculum is “phenomena-based and centers on student-led questioning, investigating, and problem-solving, with teachers supporting students as learning facilitators rather than lecturers. This approach fosters a classroom culture where everyone matters and is heard, building unique skills for educators and students and empowering them in their education journey.” Read More >>
FROM SASKATCHEWAN: Saskatchewan students in Western Canada can now access free textbooks and academic resources in one convenient location. The Government of Saskatchewan has partnered with Saskatchewan Polytechnic, the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan to launch a new website to host OER through one central website. "Open education resources are important tools that help make post-secondary education more accessible and affordable," Advanced Education Minister Ken Cheveldayoff said. "We appreciate the hard work of faculty members at Saskatchewan's post-secondary institutions who continue to develop important resources to help students learn, succeed and save money during their studies." The new open education resource website is now available at www.saskoer.ca. Read More >>
HOT OFF THE PRESS
Each edition, we highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource
The Council of Australian University Librarians recently published the OER Open Education Down UndOER: Australasian Case Studies, a compendium which provides practical examples of open educational practices from across Australia which can be adapted by readers for use in their own contexts. The book has been nominated for a 2025 Open Education Award for Excellence. If the book has influenced your work, teaching, or thinking, or if contributing to it has shaped your open education journey, you are invited to share your story.
WEIGH IN
Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider
Growth of open education propels teaching and learning opportunities | The Brock University News
Wiring the Future: Building an Infrastructure for Open Education | Southern Regional Education Board
OER Marches On in 2024 | Open Syllabus
Gender Equality in Open Scholarship | United Nations
Benefits of open-access educational resources | The Hindu
Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com.
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