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EXECUTIVE BRIEFING

The Open Education Legislative Agenda

Nicole Allen (@txtbks)Director of Open Education, SPARC

Open Education Leadership SummitPortland, OR | June 5, 2014 | #OpenLS

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Public Policy Case

• Textbook prices are out of control (and legislators are hearing about it)

• Government invests heavily in higher education (and therefore textbooks)

• Textbook costs are compromising student success (reducing value of government investment)

• OER reduce costs, improve student success (and the data show it)

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Expand availability and discoverability of OER

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Expand availability and discoverability of OER

Expand adoption, adaptation and building of OER

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Policy Handles

• Ensure publicly funded resources are openly licensed

• Create programs that directly advance OER

• Induce or call for action on OER

• Create or change policy frameworks that enable advancement on OER

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Open licensing for publicly funded resources

U.S. Dept. of Labor (2010-2014)TAACCCT conditions funding on open licensing AND free online availability for educational materials.http://www.doleta.gov/taaccct/

U.S. Congress (introduced 2013)Bipartisan FASTR Act (S. 350/H.R. 708) ensures free online availability of publicly funded research articles for everyone to use and build upon.http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/350?q=s350

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Open licensing for publicly funded resources

• Adoption of agency-wide open licensing policies

• Prioritization of OER in grant programs that support educational materials

• Blanket legislation requiring open licensing policies

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Programs that advance OER

Washington (2009)State appropriation that enabled SBCTC to launch Open Course Libraryhttp://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2009-10/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/House/1244-S.SL.pdf

California (2012)State legislation and (conditional) appropriation to create a library of Open Textbooks and a faculty council to oversee the programhttp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_1051-1100/sb_1052_bill_20120927_chaptered.html

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Programs that advance OER

U.S. Congress (introduced 2013)Affordable College Textbook Act (S. 1704/H.R. 3538) creates a federally funded grant program for open textbook pilot programshttp://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:S.1704:

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Induce or call for advancement of OER

North Dakota (2013)Resolutions calling on institutions and faculty to use and create open textbooks, and calling for a study on potential impact and avenues of action.http://www.nd.gov/sos/lr/scannedbills/3013.pdf http://www.nd.gov/sos/lr/scannedbills/3009.pdf

Minnesota (2013)Set OER as one of five funding-dependent performance goals for MnSCU system. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF1236&version=3&session=ls88&session_year=2013&session_number=0

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Induce or call for advancement of OER

• Leverage federal resources for institutional support for OER

• Work with federal officials to elevate the visibility of OER

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Create or change policy frameworks

Canadian Provinces (2014)British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan signed a MOU outlining collaboration on development and use of open textbooks.http://www.gov.sk.ca/adx/aspx/adxGetMedia.aspx?mediaId=f3d342c4-ab61-44a4-9f96-71ceb7810a5d&PN=Shared

Texas (2009)Legislation enabled K-12 commissioner to include OER on list of approved materials.http://www.legis.state.tx.us/billlookup/History.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=HB2488

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Create or change policy frameworks

• Inter-state collaboration in the U.S.

• Addressing issues with vendor contracts that create barriers to OER

• Improve federal textbook price disclosure requirements to level the playingfield

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Advancing OER in Public Policy

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Principles

• Policy is a solution to a problem, not an end in itself

• Passing policy is only half of the battle, implementation is what makes it work

• Policy is not the equivalent of changing culture

• Be careful what you wish for…

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Making the Case

• Know where stakeholders stand (faculty, bookstore, college, publishers), and partner with students – your best ally

• Focus on the local impacts of OER and have data to back it up

• Keep explanations of OER simple

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What You Can Do

• Educate legislators (federal and state) on the public policy case for OER

• Consider how OER can fit into YOUR legislative agenda

• Watch for OER legislation and opportunities (both good and bad)

• Let us know if you’re in DC!

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