OER Digest – May 30, 2025
Gabby Hernandez (SPARC) | Volume 191 | May 30, 2025
THE OER DIGEST
Your monthly newsletter for open education updates, opportunities, and reminders
OPEN CONNECTIONS
Conferences, jobs, and other OER-related opportunities
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS: CCCOER is looking for members of the open education community to participate in their open committee positions. There are currently three standing committees with multiple openings with the application period ending on June 1st. Each committee functions to support the goals of CCCOER and engages in activities that are aligned with the CCCOER Strategic Plan. To learn more visit their volunteer application form.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The 2025 MI OER Conference call for proposals is now open! They look forward to exhibiting the creative, classic, and/or innovative expressions of Open Education advocates and practitioners this Fall. The conference is open to all topics related to open education. Submissions will be accepted through June 2, 2025.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The 2025 AI + OER Institute is looking for presenters to share their experiences, strategies, and innovations. Submit your proposal and contribute to this important discussion. Proposal submission deadline is Friday, June 6th, 2025.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The CALOER conference sends a friendly reminder that proposals are due soon. For those interested in presenting, please fill out the 2025 Cal OER Conference: Presentation Proposal Submission Form no later than Monday June 9, 2025 at 5:00 pm.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Open Arkansas Conference invites submissions for presentations, panel discussions, and workshops that explore the diverse opportunities and challenges of implementing OER. Share your insights, research, and success stories with colleagues from across Arkansas. The deadline is July 30, 2025.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), in collaboration with ISKME, is launching the Institute on Open Education (IOE), a reenvisioning of AAC&U’s Institute on OER for the current moment in higher education. This online institute is designed to accelerate the work of teams from campuses or state systems seeking to actualize an ambitious strategy to provide access to high-quality educational opportunities through the affordances of open education. Applications must be received by June 20, 2025.
WEBINAR: Join Rebus this summer for their Summer Webinar Series, sponsored by the Hewlett Foundation. This series will discuss timely topics related to open education. All webinars are free to attend and you can learn more and register for the events on their website.
WEBINAR: NEBHE is hosting a Getting Started with Course Marking webinar on June 2nd. Attendees will get a student’s perspective on navigating the costs of learning materials, a broad overview of course marking definitions, specific examples as well as a roadmap on how to get started.
JOB OPENING: Oklahoma City Community College is looking for a Student Success Librarian that has OER responsibilities. To learn more please visit the job posting.
STORIES FROM THE FIELD
Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted
FROM ILLINOIS: The University of Illinois Chicago announced the three recipients of their 2025 USG Faculty Open Educational Resources Leadership Award. Faculty were awarded for a 3D cadaver web app for kinesiology and nutrition students, an interactive accounting textbook known on campus as “free business school”, and an engineering curriculum with interactive simulations and rigorous embedded assignments. These efforts by faculty display the exciting potential of OER to transform learning for students on campus and worldwide. Read More>>
FROM OREGON: Open Oregon Educational Resources is releasing four new open textbooks whose authors include four Southern Oregon University faculty members and a student in the Criminology and Criminal Justice program. The SOU open textbook project started in September 2021, when Open Oregon Educational Resources received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to develop openly-licensed materials with an equity lens in criminal justice. The project targeted high-enrollment courses in a discipline where high-quality, deliberately inclusive open textbooks were not available. Read More>>
FROM PENNSYLVANIA: The University of Pittsburgh Nancy Tannery Grants for OER were awarded to 11 projects during the spring 2025 term by the Office of the Provost. The funding supports faculty’s efforts to adapt, adopt and/or create OER for use in an existing course. These projects will save students money on course materials as well as provide these faculty with the ability to customize their courses. Read More>>
HOT OFF THE PRESS
Each edition, we highlight an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource
oertransport Textbooks are a new suite of six openly licensed textbooks which are transforming how transportation planning is taught across the U.S., thanks to an ambitious initiative led by CAPPA faculty members at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in partnership with institutions in California and Florida. The OER, “Enabling Transportation Planning Professional Advancement”, eliminates textbook costs while delivering high-quality, industry-vetted content to students pursuing sustainable and equitable transportation careers.
Foundations of Business, 2nd Edition [2025] by Holly Jackson, PhD was created for use in Virginia Commonwealth University's BUSN 201, Foundations of Business course which strives to build awareness of corporate social responsibility and ethical business behavior. The practical application of the concepts gained in this course, and through this text, assists students in gaining an integrated awareness of business, while practicing analytical skills needed for their advanced business courses and careers. The second edition contains updates for relevancy, plus a new section on Mentoring.
Ecology for All! by Brouwer, Connuck, Dubniczki, Gownaris, Howard, Olmsted, Wetzel, Whittinghill, Wilson, and Zallek is an ecology text designed in modules so that instructors can choose the pieces that make sense to assign in their context. The textbook covers a wide range of topics including Introduction to Ecology, Evolution, Adaptations to the Physical Environment, various ecological communities, Population Ecology, Behavioral Ecology, Species Interactions, Ecological Succession, Biogeochemical Cycles, Landscape Ecology, Biodiversity, Conservation Biology, and Human Impact on Global Climate among others.
WEIGH IN
Great reads to repost or share and interesting discussions to consider
How Academic Leadership is Evolving to Meet the Needs of the 21st-Century Learner | Higher Education Digest
From Syllabus to Success: How Smarter Course Materials Support Student Success | Library Journal
Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com.
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