Saylor Foundation to Launch "Open Textbook Challenge"

Great news!

"To spur authors to openly license their work, the Saylor Foundation will offer a $20,000 award for submitted textbooks accepted for use in our course materials after a round of peer reviews. To be eligible for the award, the author(s) must agree to license the text under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY) license."

Thanks to College Open Textbooks for spreading the news.

Buy One Get One... challenged in CA

My friend David Wiley often says "if you buy one you should get one." That is, if you pay for something, you should be able to keep the thing that you bought. Pretty simple idea.

The for-profit publishers are trying to change CA state law so "buy one get one" logic doesn't apply.

Their model is: "Lease one, use it for 90-120 days, and then lose your access."

I think I like David's model better.

Cable

OpenCourseWare Consortium: Community College Outreach Manager

The OpenCourseWare Consortium seeks to recruit a Community College Outreach Manager for a full time, two-year contract.  The Outreach Manager will play a key role in helping the Consortium realize its goal of increasing the participation of community colleges in the open education movement.  The Outreach Manager will work as part of a small multi-cultural and international team to promote increased access to and improvements in post-secondary education through the use, production and adaptation of OpenCourseWare and open educational resources.

The Outreach Manager will also work closely with the Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources Advisory Board, comprised of thought leaders representing the interests of 2-year colleges around the world. The position will be based in the United States, with duties conducted primarily online. Exact location is flexible and negotiable.

See http://www.ocwconsortium.org/en/community/blog/2011/08/08/ocw-consortium-seeks-community-college-outreach-manager/ for details.

To apply: Please submit a letter of application along with a full résumé or curriculum vitae, including contact information for three (3) professional references, to: jobs@ocwconsortium.org. The position will remain open until filled.