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Pearson Signals Major Shift From Print by Making All Textbook Updates ‘Digital First’

Edsurge

Today, Pearson announced it will adopt a “digital first” approach to updating its higher ed course materials, meaning that any revisions or changes to textbook content will happen first in the digital version. The average price for a Pearson digital textbook subscription for a semester is $40, according to the company.

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What a Homework Help Site’s Move to Host Open Educational Resources Could Mean

Edsurge

In May, the homework-help site that relies on student-generated content, Course Hero, dipped its toes into freely available, openly licensed alternatives known as Open Educational Resources, or OER, course materials. This was the company’s “first foray” into OER, and it is still figuring out how the OER fits, Morris says. “I

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Startup Hopes to Shake Up Textbook Market By Encouraging a Mix-and-Match of Courseware

Edsurge

“You can think about it as almost an Amazon-like self-publishing system plus Amazon Kindle store plus Amazon Kindle reader software for courseware,” said Feldstein. But last year Pearson acquired the assets of Smart Sparrow , leading ASU to look for an alternative platform to deliver its offerings, which had also been growing in use.

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Hitting Reset, Knewton Tries New Strategy: Competing With Textbook Publishers

Edsurge

Earlier this year Ferreira stepped aside as CEO, replaced by Brian Kibby , a veteran of major textbook companies including Pearson and McGraw-Hill. The secret to its swift entry into publishing was OER (open education resources). Knewton’s pitch is that its mix of OER and an adaptive-learning system will set it apart.

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Stereotyping, Behavior, and Belonging in the Open Education Community

Iterating Toward Openness

The open source software side of the open house has absolutely no issue with commercial entities using or contributing to open source software. ”, you declare, “the overwhelming majority of OER in the world are licensed in ways that permit commercial use, so what’s the problem?” What the heck is going on?

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The CARE Framework

Iterating Toward Openness

As the title of the document makes explicit, the framework aims to contribute to the conversation about the sustainability of OER: “Toward a Sustainable OER Ecosystem: The Case for OER Stewardship” It’s a valuable contribution to that conversation. I struggle to see how this will be possible.

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More on the Cost Trap and Inclusive Access

Iterating Toward Openness

[Back in 2012 – 2013] I was impressed (like many others I’m sure) with how Wiley was able to frame the cost-savings argument around open textbooks to build broader interest for OERs. And the idea of pivoting away from that at the exact moment Pearson, Cengage, and McGraw-Hill are adopting that approach seems a bit too convenient.