OER Policy: Overview & Opportunities (#opened13 11.7.13 Park City, UT)

Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition

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OER and Public Policy: Overview &

OpportunitiesNicole Allen

OER Program Director, SPARC

Open Education Conference November 7, 2013 Park City, UT

Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition

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Open Educational Resources Program nicole@sparc.arl.org @txtbks

SPARC®, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, is an international alliance of academic and

research libraries working to create a more open system of scholarly communication.

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VOCABULARY

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Policy

Rules, protocols or principles to guide decision-making and action

• Laws• Regulations

• Priorities• Codes

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Forum

The system in which a policy operates

• Federal• State

• Institutional• Corporate

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Decision Maker

Entity that creates or implements a policy

• Legislators• President

• Board of directors

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Stakeholders

Entities that are affected by a policy

• Faculty• Students• Colleges

• Publishers• Bookstores

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TYPES OF OER POLICY

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Resource Allocation

Devote funding or other resources to the creation or adoption of OER

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Poland K-12 Textbooks (2012)

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Dept. of Labor TAACCCT (2011)

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CA Open Textbook Bills (2012)

Open source textbook bill passes state Legislature

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Licensing

Inject open licensing into existing systems that produce educational

materials

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WA Grant Policy (2010)

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CA Grant Policy (2013)

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Inducement

Acknowledge, support, and call for activities that foster engagement with

OER

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FHDA Policy (2004)

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ND Resolutions (2013)

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UMN Grad Student Resolution

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Remove Barriers

Neutralize policies that interfere with the creation or adoption of OER

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Policy Barriers

• Contracts designating the campus bookstore as the sole provider of digital textbooks

• Procurement laws meant to prevent bribery that prohibit the use of “free” resources

• Others?

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Policy Barriers(added during discussion)

• Delays in students receiving financial aid to purchase textbooks

• Tenure and promotion policies often do not recognize OER

• Lack of policies in areas like licensing that lead to confusion

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Open Educational Resources Program nicole@sparc.arl.org @txtbks

Useful Resource:http

://wiki.creativecommons.org/

OER_Policy_Registry

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Open Educational Resources Program nicole@sparc.arl.org @txtbks

OER ADVOCACY

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1. Present OER as a solution

OER policy is not an end in itself. It must be a solution to a problem.

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Problems OER Solves

• Textbook affordability• Improved teaching & learning• Economy/career preparedness

Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition

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2. Work with stakeholders

Know who the policy will affect and reach out in advance. Policies are

more successful with broad support.

Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition

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Open Educational Resources Program nicole@sparc.arl.org @txtbks

Key Stakeholders

• Faculty (as Authors and Teachers)• Students • Colleges• Bookstores (often influence colleges)• Publishers

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Open Educational Resources Program nicole@sparc.arl.org @txtbks

3. Keep things simple

Remember, most people don’t know what OER or open licenses are.

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Sample Message

OER are free, online academic materials – textbooks, research articles, study guides, videos, and the like – that are openly licensed for everyone to use. Students can download and print OER, and professors can tailor and share them. With OER, students have access to the high-quality materials they need to complete their college education – at a fraction of the cost of traditional textbooks and educational materials.

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Jargon to Avoid

• OER: say “open educational resources”• CCBY: say a “the most open license” and

explain what Creative Commons is• Derivative: use “adaptation” or “custom

version,” or provide more context

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OPPORTUNITIES

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More federal/state grants conditioned

on CCBY license

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States pooling resources and

collaborating to develop more open

textbooks

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Institutional licensing policies and/or reporting

requirements

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Policy in the “Other” Opens

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FASTR Act (introduced 2013)

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White House Directive (2013)

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Nicole Allen

nicole@sparc.arl.org

@txtbks

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