Open Educational Resources (OER) include digital and print course content, open textbooks, teaching materials, learning modules and more. Often, they are made available through copyright friendly means such as the public domain or a Creative Common licence.
Students and instructors can freely access, use, share and modify OER. David Wiley’s 5R Framework describes the ways OER can be used to support teaching and learning.
OER are growing in importance as the cost of textbooks and learning materials continues to rise. OER make it easier for instructors to create, customize and share learning materials and for students to access, use and modify course content. Both students and instructors can benefit when cost is no longer a barrier to accessible learning materials.
Discover
Supplementary Collection
Directory of Relevant OERs
Adopt, adapt or create
In fall of 2022, Sask Polytech introduced the Pressbooks platform to provide an editing/publishing solution for employees to work with existing openly licensed resources or create and publish new material.
Adopt
We have been adopting resources as long as there has been instruction. We adopt a "good-enough" resource that provides valuable information for the students and could potentially become part of a personal reference system.
Often the adopted resource is only partially applicable to the course. Sometimes a course is designed around a particular resource and the resource is an "essential textbook" or "required resource."
With the prevalence of OER, it is relatively easy to find a suitable replacement resource for a non-essential textbook. Check out the OER by Subject Directory for resource suggestions based on the school and program structure.
Your liaison librarian is also available to help find an alternate open resource.
Adapt
The recent explosion in the creation of OER means there are many good open resource
options. Adaptation allows an instructor to add their own essential content, along
with information from other experts, to create a custom resource that best supports
their course.
OER, which are not restricted by the no-derivatives license, can be adapted to suit particular teaching and learning needs.
10 reasons to adapt a resource:
- make the resource fit the curriculum
- add in newer research or materials
- integrate best materials into one resource
- add local context or content
- integrate your own or your student's research
- translate material into another language
- correct errors or inaccuracies
- add in interactive elements (H5P) to engage students
- add in universal design (UDL) elements for accessibility
- enhance a resource with your own unique and valuable content
Create
OER creation provides the opportunity to publish an original work that fills a research or curriculum gap in a new or expanding field.
They can take the form of lesson plans, syllabi, videos, websites, guides, textbooks and more. Since 2015, numerous OER resources have been created at Sask Polytech through Government of Saskatchewan funding assistance.
Interested in implementing open education resources or an open textbook in your course? Check out the OER by Subject Directory, which lists options based on schools and program areas.
Open textbook grants
By transitioning your course to zero textbook cost (ZTC) or developing an OER, you can support innovation in teaching and delivery and eliminate textbook costs for students all while maintaining or even enhancing learning effectiveness.
Zero textbook cost grants
Sask Polytech Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) Development Grants are intended to:
- Encourage and support our instructors in the transition of courses to ZTC
- Supporting innovation in teaching and delivery
- Eliminating textbook costs for students while maintaining or even enhancing learning effectiveness
Sask Polytech ZTC Development Grants are generously funded by the Government of Saskatchewan.
Apply for the Zero Textbook Cost Development Grant.
OER Development Grants
Sask Polytech OER Development Grants are intended to:
- Encourage and support our instructors in the adaptation, creation and curation of open education resources
- Reduce overall costs for students
- Enrich learning and teaching by offering greater flexibility and interactivity
Priority is given to OER development in the areas of:
- Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples
- Accessibility for people with disabilities
Sask Polytech OER Development Grants are generously funded by the Government of Saskatchewan.
Apply for the Open Education Resource Development Grant.
If you have an idea for an OER or ZTC for your program, please contact the Scholarly Communication Librarian.
What is Pressbooks?
Pressbooks is a publishing platform based on the popular Wordpress application. In Pressbooks educators can build and share ideas by creating interactive books.
How are we using Pressbooks at Sask Polytech?
Pressbooks facilitates finding, sharing and creating open educational resources. A growing number of Sask Polytech employees have already published resources in Pressbooks, covering topics that assist our programs and provide valuable information. We continue to grow our academic community's OER collection in Pressbooks.
To sign up for an account or to get oriented to the platform, contact the Scholarly Communication Librarian.
Contact us
The Sask Polytech Copyright Office is here to help students and instructors learn more about OER.
Please contact the Copyright Office at copyright@saskpolytech.ca or chat with us at Ask Us! Live for assistance.