Open educational resources (OER) are free learning materials like textbooks, lectures, assignments, entire courses and more. They are designed to be customized, revised and reused for individual needs. OERs promote accessible, affordable and adaptable education for students and faculty. They are free in digital format and can be printed for a very low cost.
We are committed to providing open education resources for our students so they can access the materials they need to learn and succeed in their studies. To date, our faculty has saved students over 8 million dollars ($8,336,770) by using open educational resources.
Students
Find out how OERs are used at Douglas
- Explore open education resources through the Douglas library
- See the list of Douglas College courses using open textbooks and learn how the Douglas Student Union supports OERs.
Faculty
Many faculty members are already using OERs successfully in their classrooms. Some are also creating open textbooks for use by students and others. Individual faculty members or teams can apply for incentive grants after they have replaced a commercial textbook with an open textbook or zero/low-cost supplemental materials in their course. Learn more below on how to apply and about our recent grant recipients.
Open Educational Resources incentive grants
Open textbooks
Individuals or teams teaching multi-section courses that have adopted, adapted or created an open textbook may apply for an incentive grant. Successful applicants are eligible to receive up to $500 towards the professional development activity of their choosing. Teams may receive up to $1500 towards a group event, project or activity.
Zero cost/low-cost supplementary resources
Individuals, or teams teaching multi-sections courses, that have replaced commercial supplementary resources with zero cost or low-cost supplementary resources may apply for an incentive grant. Successful applicants are eligible to receive up to $250 towards the professional development activity of their choice. Zero cost/low-cost materials may include library resources and digital course packs.
Please see our Zero cost/low-cost terms of reference for more details.
Grant submission process
- Applications submitted to the Office of the VP Academic and Provost will be processed by the Open Douglas Working Group.
- Applicants must be regular faculty members.
- The open textbook must be a required resource for the course that replaces a commercial textbook. For a zero cost/low-cost grant, the OER supplemental resources must be at least 75% of the course and the total cost of course materials cannot exceed $40 CAD.
- The adoption of the OER or zero cost/low-cost supplementary material must reduce the cost to students and/or significantly increase their use of a textbook/learning resource.
- The VP Academic and Provost will review applications three times a year.
- The incentive grant will be awarded to faculty after successful implementation of the open education resource.
Open Education Resources grant recipients
Applied Community Studies
- Liz Hagerty, Social Work
Commerce and Business Administration
- Barbara Fellnermayr, Accounting
- Arsineh Garabedian, Accounting
- Scott Van Dyk, Business Law
Humanities and Social Sciences
- Tara Chang, Criminology
Science and Technology
- Shahriar Khosravi, Computing Science
- Peter Sinclair, Mathematics
Applied Community Studies
- Liz Hagerty, Social Work
Commerce & Business Administration
- Barbara Fellnermayr, Accounting
- Min Jin Kim, Business Management
- Jack Lin, Accounting
Language, Literature and Performing Arts
- Andrew Osborne, Communications
- Sam Schechter, Communications
Science & Technology
- Brenda Addison-Jones, Chemistry
- Paul O'Connor, Chemistry
- Rosemary Oh-McGinnis, Biology
- Nathalie Vigouroux-Cailli, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Applied Community Studies
- Jason Lam, Child and Youth Care
- Cal Oliver, Social Work
- Janice Spencer, Therapeutic Recreation
Commerce & Business Administration
- Nelson Eng, Computing Studies & Information Systems
- Chris Ricard, Marketing
- Michael Wufka, Computing Studies and Information Systems
Humanities & Social Sciences
- Marie-Therese Atsena-Abogo, Anthropology
- Laurie Beckwith, Anthropology
- Sally Mennill, History
Language, Literature and Performing Arts
- Sam Schechter, Communications
Science & Technology
- Sean Conner, Sport Science
- Daryl Funk, Mathematics
- Andrew Kanerva, Sport Science
- Paul O'Connor, Chemistry
- Mandana Salajegheh, Sport Science
- Wesley Snider, Mathematics
Applied Community Studies
- Yvonne Gomez, Child and Youth Care
- Lisa Hansen, Child and Youth Care
- Cheryl Inkster, Child and Youth Care
Commerce & Business Administration
- Cleusa Yamamoto, Finance
Humanities & Social Sciences
- Carling Beninger, History
- Sarah Hogarth Rossiter, Philosophy
- Heather Robertson, Anthropology
- Tweed Roger, Psychology
- Elliot Rossiter, Philosophy
- Nicole Vittoz, Psychology
Science & Technology
- Daryl Funk, Mathematics
- Dan Henschell, Mathematics
- Jennifer Kirkey, Physics
- Mark Schurch, Mathematics
- Peter Sinclair, Mathematics
- Derek Turner, Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Arezou Valadkhani, Mathematics
Annual events
Questions?
Contact us if you have questions about open educational resources.
Alicia Arding, Faculty - Librarian
604 527 5181
aarding@douglascollege.ca