Purpose
The use of open educational resources (OER) is growing in colleges and universities across North America. However, in terms of researching, developing, and integrating OER into the post-secondary classroom, many Canadian institutions lag behind their counterparts in the United States (McGreal, 2015). OER hold promise for enhancing accessibility and academic success in higher education, particularly for students from marginalized groups (Michalski et al., 2017; Hilton, 2016). Despite this promise, faculty members still encounter obstacles to OER use in the classroom, such as limited awareness, insufficient resources (financial, time, and human resources), inadequate professional recognition, and concerns about quality (Skidmore and Provida, 2019).
Various initiatives, institutions, and funding opportunities have emerged to support faculty development related to OER (Downes, 2007), but research indicates that many of these opportunities are not sustainable over time (Wiley, 2017). Consequently, numerous Canadian students, including Indigenous students, first-generation learners, and those from diverse racial backgrounds, are unable to access these valuable and cost-effective educational materials.
Creating a reliable and effective system for developing custom OER is essential to make open educational resources a realistic choice for both professors and students at Canadian colleges and universities.
About the Program
Institution
Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada is an access university. Our students require higher levels of financial aid, are more likely to commute longer, and are more likely to work to support themselves and their families while they pursue their studies than the average student in Ontario. Ontario Tech also boasts a highly diverse student body that could experience significant benefits from a decrease in the financial barriers associated with higher education, including the cost of textbooks and other learning resources.
Because of the potential of OER to ease financial burdens on students, as well as their potential for creating unique learning opportunities, faculty members at Ontario Tech are very interested in exploring the creation of OER for their courses. However, there are many challenges for dedicated educators as they try to balance research, teaching and service workloads (Deloitte, 2020; Skidmore & Provida, 2019).
Program
The OER Lab was set up to mirror how traditional educational publishing divisions create learning materials. This means providing authors with support like editing, reviews, and design help to make educational resources. The Lab also offers training to faculty on using OER and resources for creating them.
To tackle the sustainability challenges of OER programs, the OER Lab was launched at Ontario Tech University in 2020. It's run by a team of student employees who are trained by experienced staff to assist faculty in using or creating OER. Faculty members who want to use or create OER for their courses work with the OER Lab as "clients." They meet regularly with project teams to discuss progress and address any concerns. As students gain experience, they start managing client meetings independently. The goal is to give students valuable work experience while supporting faculty in creating OER at Ontario Tech University
The OER Lab operates within the university's Teaching and Learning Centre, overseen by the OER Lab Coordinator and an experienced educational developer. Student employees play a crucial role in the Lab's day-to-day tasks, including using tools, creating materials, managing schedules, and following workflows.
