Friday, March 7, 2014 News

Open Education Week 2014

Open Education
Event Date: MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014 to SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2014
Event Location: DC and Everywhere

Open Education Week will take place on March 10-15, 2014. In a similar fashion to Open Access Week, participants across the world will organize events, share resources, produce videos, and take action to celebrate the benefits of free and open sharing in education.

For more information see www.openeducationweek.org.

Open Educational Resources (OER), are are teaching, learning, and research resources that either reside in the public domain or carry a license that permits their free use, sharing and adaptation by all users. From textbooks to course materials, videos to software, journals to digital collections, SPARC supports the creation and sharing of open materials and promotes practices and policies that advance this vision.

SPARC is sponsoring the following events during Open Education Week:

  • Monday 3/10: Open Educational Resources Briefing on Capitol Hill. In coordination with the Congressional e-Learning Caucus, SPARC is holding a briefing for Congressional staff about how OER can reduce textbook costs, improve student success, and create a better-educated workforce. Our speakers include OER thought leader Dr. David Wiley, a student leader from the University of Maryland College Park, and a Vice Provost from Tidewater Community College leading the nation’s first fully-OER degree program. Full details: http://sparc2.arl.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=133
  • Tuesday 3/11: Open Drinks. SPARC is coordinating a social gathering for people in the DC area interested in open education, open access, and other strands of the broader openness movement. Similar events have started popping up in cities around the world, and as we illustrated with our recent OA Meeting theme of “convergence” bringing together these communities is increasingly important — especially here in our nation’s capital. Those of you in the area are most welcome to join! Full details: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/open-drinks-dc-the-kickoff-tickets-10746636479?aff=news
  • Thursday 3/13: “Libraries Leading the Way on OER” Webcast. In this free webcast, SPARC will showcase three libraries that have launched innovative OER projects: UMass Amherst, University of Minnesota, and Oregon State University. Librarians leading these projects will provide updates on their progress, discuss the impact on students, and provide tips for other institutions to launch similar programs. We hope you can join us! Full details: http://sparc2.arl.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=132

Follow Open Education Week on social media using #openeducationwk and SPARC’s events using #sparcOEW. We encourage those of you holding Open Education Week events to include both of these hashtags, so other SPARC members can see how you are celebrating.

For other events happening online and on campus, visit the Open Education Week website!

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