OER Digest – November 11, 2025

Written By

Gabby Hernandez (SPARC) | Volume 197 | November 20, 2025

OPEN ED DIGEST

Your monthly digest of open education updates, opportunities, and reminders

UPCOMING EVENTS

Curated picks from the Open Education Association’s Webinar Calendar and Conference List that relate to a national audience and are open for all.

OPEN REGISTRATION: Begin planning your Spring conference schedule with the following conferences that have open registration.

SAVE THE DATE: The 2026 Colorado OER Conference announced its theme as "Open for Good: Resilience, Innovation and Collaboration." The in-person conference will be held on Friday, May 29 at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, CO. Call for proposals and early bird registration open December 1. Sign up for conference updates.

SAVE THE DATE: The Florida OER Summit 2026 Planning Committee invites you to save the date for the FL OER Summit 2026!  The theme of the Summit is "OER Understood the Assignment." Join us May 20 - 21, 2026, for another free, virtual gathering to share, network, and elevate the work of OER practitioners.

UPCOMING WEBINARS:

UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES

Curated picks from the Open Education Association’s Opportunity Board that relates to a national audience and are open for all.

ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS: The Rebus Luminary Luminary Fellowship invites you to a transformative experience redefining what sustainable and effective leadership can look like in postsecondary education. Applications are open until November 23, 11:59pm HST.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Open Education Field is currently flush with opportunities to submit conference proposals. Here is a list of open CFPs that are all due in December.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING: The Creative Commons Certificate Courses are now open and taking applications. You can view the different courses and register here. Registration closes on January 19th.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING: WisTechOpen is offering their Student Success with Open & Affordable Resources professional development series from January 2 - 30, 2026. Registration closes on December 22nd. 

Browse more events and opportunities in the Open Education Association’s regularly-updated Open Education Conference List, Webinar Calendar, and Opportunity Board.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD

Quick snapshots of those making change on the ground level, and those impacted

From Pennsylvania: Penn State University shared how its libraries are using results from a Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) pilot study to improve the use of open online homework systems alongside open educational resources (OER). Based on the study’s findings, Penn State University Libraries have developed resources to help faculty select and implement open-source homework systems that work well with OER. Read More>>

From Michigan: Washtenaw Community College announced that it received a $200,000 state grant to expand its Open Educational Resources program, which has already saved students over $16 million in textbook costs since 2017 and over $1.1 million in savings this semester alone. WCC's commitment to affordability includes three Z-Degrees and six Z-Certificates—full degree pathways that can be completed with zero textbook costs—demonstrating how OER remove significant financial barriers to student success. Read More>>

HOT OFF THE PRESS

Each edition highlights an interesting, new, openly-licensed resource, including research, guides, templates, podcasts, open textbooks and more!

CASE STUDIES: DOERS released the Open Educational Resources Case Studies: A DOERS Project which is a collection of case studies exploring how scholars, practitioners and administrators design and implement research on open education. The book highlights the ways faculty, staff and institutional leaders across higher education in the United States and Canada investigate the impact of open educational resources and open educational practices on student success.

OPEN TEXTBOOK: Exploring Lyon Arboretum is an interactive E-book that digitally recreates the beauty of Lyon Arboretum to make it accessible to a wider audience. While exploring you can learn about the plants living there in this colorful interactive storybook.

OPEN TEXTBOOK: The Library and Academic Innovation Department of Western Oregon University is excited to announce the new openly licensed textbook, Teaching Through Rather Than About. This resource empowers K–12 social studies teachers to teach Black history through Black voices using LaGarrett King's Black Historical Consciousness framework and helps educators challenge biased narratives and foster critical thinking, empathy, and inclusivity in the classroom.

READING LIST

Great reads to keep you up to date on the latest trends in Open Education

In the digital era, why are we still paying for books? | Washburn Review

Free Textbook Revolution Hits College Classrooms as Faculty Embrace Open Resources | Coyote Chronicle

Students save big in new nursing curriculum with zero textbook costs | Iowa State University Library

PALNI recognizes affordable learning champions with 2025 Open Educator Award | PALNI

WV students to save more as state expands free learning materials with $250K grants | WVVA

Have suggestions for the next edition? Let us know at oerdigest@gmail.com. 

The Open Ed Digest is a public newsletter distributed to a broad group of stakeholders across the higher education community. Subscribe here.

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OER Digest – October 23, 2025