SPARC Projects

Connect OER

Open Education

University of British Columbia

Vancouver, BC, Canada
Official Website • @UBC

Type: Public 4-Year, Research University
Annual Enrollment: 61,113

  SPARC Member  

OER Webpage
OER LibGuide

Overview

The University of British Columbia (UBC) is home to a wide diversity of open education initiatives and efforts, from strong student advocacy and innovative instructor efforts to administrative support and funding. Since 2011, at least 251 UBC courses or course sections have been identified as having used open textbooks, OERs, or freely accessible resources instead of paid textbooks. In the 2019/20 academic year (September 2019 to April 2020), an estimated 18,440 students enrolled in courses using open resources in place of paid textbooks or readings. This replacement of traditional textbooks with open resources has potentially saved UBC students an estimated $1.8 to $2.5 million this academic year.

Recently, UBC launched the OER Fund to support affordable and inclusive access to learning materials through the adaption, adoption, development, and integration of open educational resources in UBC credit courses. At launch, UBCV committed $1-million over a four-year period to support OER initiatives.

For more info on open education initiatives at UBC, please visit https://open.ubc.ca

Campus Details

Campus Entities Most Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

Library Departments Active in Efforts Advancing OER:

Academic Subjects With Greatest OER Traction:

Mechanisms to Support OER Included in the Following:

OER Staff Location:


OER Programs

UBC OER Champions

The UBC student society (UBC AMS), alongside other university sponsors, puts out a call for nominations from students and other members of the UBC community to honour faculty, staff, and administrators who work to support open education at UBC. The call states that while “open is the goal of OER, this does not mean the same thing as free; instructor time and efforts are significant costs that go into the development and adoption of OER. The UBC community members that the AMS wishes to honour at this event are true champions of equitable accessibility. They know that all students at UBC should be able to utilize course materials regardless of their socio-economic standing. Each (often unpaid) hour they dedicate towards OER leads to fewer students facing the significant financial burden that accompanies accessing course materials”. At the last “OER Champions” event in October 2019, 55 faculty and staff members were nominated and recognized for their contributions to open at UBC.

Program Type:

Duration: 09/2019 - 11/2020

Program Webpage: https://open.ubc.ca/oer-champions/

Scope: Cost-free course content, including OER

Primary OER Strategy: OER Awareness

Secondary OER Strategies: OER Adaptation, OER Adoption, OER Curation, OER Pedagogy, OER Publication

Unit Housing the Program:

Program Partners:

Source of Program Funding:

Total Program Funding to Date: $ 500

Incentives Offered by the Program:

UBC OER Fund

The UBC Vancouver OER Fund aims to support affordable and inclusive access to learning materials through the adaption, adoption, development, and integration of open educational resources in UBC credit courses. At launch, UBCV committed $1-million over a four-year period to support OER initiatives. In the first year of the program, the OER Fund provided funding to over 25 faculty, staff, and student OER projects.

The OER Fund consists of two grant pathways:

Program Type:

Duration: 09/2019 - 09/2023

Program Webpage: https://open.ubc.ca/oer-fund/

Scope: OER (open course content)

Primary OER Strategy: OER Adaptation

Secondary OER Strategies: OER Adoption, OER Awareness, OER Curation, OER Pedagogy, OER Publication, OER Review/Assessment, OER Research

Unit Housing the Program:

Program Partners:

Source of Program Funding:

Total Program Funding to Date: $ 1,000,000

Incentives Offered by the Program:

Conditions: Recipients are required to openly license and freely share resources created or adapted

Total amount of incentive grants awarded to date: $ 240,000

Typical amount of each grant: $ 11,000

Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF)

The Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF) was created in 1991 to enrich student learning by supporting innovative and effective educational enhancements. It is financed entirely by a portion of the student tuition paid to UBC Vancouver. The 2017/2018 TLEF includes a priority focus for the development or integration of open educational resources that are intended to be used in a course, multiple courses within a program, or across several programs. Furthermore, successful applicants will be encouraged to license materials developed under an appropriate Creative Commons license.

Program Type:

Duration: 06/1991 - Present

Program Webpage: http://tlef.ubc.ca/

Scope: OER (open course content)

Primary OER Strategy: OER Adoption

Program Partners:

Source of Program Funding:

Total Program Funding to Date: $ 1,000,000

Incentives Offered by the Program:

Conditions: Recipients are encouraged to openly license and freely share resources created or adapted

OER Resources

Open UBC

Open UBC is a curated collection of resources for faculty and students to learn about the why, what and how of open education practices and what they mean to teaching and learning at UBC. It includes examples of open courses and projects, reports on OER use and impact, and faculty stories.

Resource Permissions:
CC BY SA


Point of Contact

Will Engle, MLIS
Strategists, Open Education Initiatives, Centre for Teaching, Learning & Technology