OpenEd Digest – February 2026
OpenEd Digest
your monthly roundup of what’s new in open education
Introducing our new look! After 10 years and 200 editions, the OER Digest has become the OpenEd Digest. Monthly editions will be delivered from digest@opened.org and get posted online. Please take a moment to confirm your email settings and share this message with anyone who may be interested.
Upcoming Events
Curated picks from our lists of upcoming webinars and conferences
Upcoming Webinars:
Open Education Association - OER and Title II Accessibility Compliance: Separating Myths from Facts - Feb. 17
Michelson 20MM - Open Educational Resources Spark Grants Informational Webinar - Feb.18
Pressbooks - Designing for Accessibility: Publishing Compliant Content in Pressbooks - Feb. 18
Iowa OER - Making OER Accessible: A Title II Discussion - Feb. 18
CCCOER - Behind the Scenes: Managing Grant-Funded Projects with Washington Open ProfTech - Feb. 18
Open Oregon - Building Inclusive Classrooms: Modeling Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment for Future Teachers - Feb. 18
Open Oregon - Working toward Accessibility for OER Collections - Feb. 23
Call for Proposals:
2026 Colorado OER Conference - Deadline Feb. 15
TWU Open Educational Practices Conference 2026 - Deadline Mar. 5
OpenCon Ohio 2026 - Deadline Mar. 20
Last Chance Registration:
Virtual Open Ed Live 2026 - Feb. 23-25
Virtual 2026 OERizona Conference - Feb. 19-20
Virtual Language OER Conference - Mar. 7
Save the Date:
The 2026 Open Education Conference (OpenEd26) will be held on October 27-29, 2026 as a fully virtual event with attendance welcomed from across the globe. A call for proposals will be released in late February. Help spread the word and sign up for updates to stay informed.
The 2026 MI OER Conference will take place on Friday, November 13 at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor. Additional details will be posted to the MI OER Network website and the call for proposals will open in April.
Open Opportunities
Highlights from our open education opportunity board
Share the Love: Share your love for OER this Valentine's Day and Open Education Week by joining Colorado in thanking instructors for using OER in their class, recognizing those who support open education on campus.
Open Calls:
Peer Reviewers: OER Starter Kit 2nd Edition - Deadline Feb. 13
Survey: BCcampus Open Education Digital Badges - Deadline Feb. 21
Abstracts: Case Studies in Library Publishing - Deadline Feb. 27
Paper Submissions: Pedagogy Opened: Innovative Theory and Practice - Deadline Mar. 2
Job Posting: University Open Educational Resources Manager, CUNY Office of Library Services - Deadline Mar. 6
Open Education Week Programming:
Stories from the Field
Snapshots of open education making a difference
From Florida: University of Central Florida’s Affordable Instructional Materials initiative held its seventh annual awards ceremony to recognize professors championing open educational resources and low-cost course materials. The program has saved students over $50 million since 2019, with 76.5% of course sections in 2025 using free or low-cost materials. Read More>>
From Montana: Tony Hartshorn, an associate professor at Montana State University's College of Agriculture, received the Excellence in Open Education Award for his pioneering work in developing open-access educational resources. Through a 2021 grant, Hartshorn authored an open-access textbook for his Soils course, demonstrating how faculty can leverage open educational resources to provide accessible, customized learning materials. Read More>>
Hot Off the Press
Newly-published resources to explore and share
Report: Fixing the Broken Textbook Market is Student PIRGs’ new research on open textbooks, access codes, and autobilling. Read the report to learn about the growing number of professors taking cost into account and how that progress is being undermined by various publisher practices that reduce student choice.
Report: The Midwestern Higher Education Compact and the Southern Regional Education Board released new reports Using Open Educational Resources (OER) in Dual Enrollment: Stakeholder Perspectives and Dual Enrollment and Open Educational Resources: Intersections and Opportunities in State Policy. These reports explore how OER are being used in dual enrollment and where state policy can better align to expand impact.
Reading List
Articles about open education and other noteworthy topics
Rep. Domb: E-textbooks warrant more research | Daily Hampshire Gazette
Student-inspired Textbook Lending Program marks 10 years of opening the doors to learning | Emory News Center
Opinion: We were asked to make college textbooks less expensive. We did it. | The San Diego Union-Tribune
University proposes switch to One Access textbook program, faces faculty criticism | The Cavalier Daily
Commission proposed to study high costs of college e-textbooks | Boston Statehouse
Durbin Celebrates $61 Million In Federal Funding Secured Over The Course Of Eight Years For His Open Textbook Pilot Program | Press Release
College students in New Jersey speak out against the rising cost of course materials | Action News
