BCcampus was grateful for support from the Ministry of Post Secondary Education and Future Skills and the Hewlett Foundation to work with users and teams to redesign the B.C. Open Textbook Collection, which we have known and loved over the last ten years. Summer of 2022 we were excited to launch a redesigned collection for open educational resources (OER) called the B.C. Open Collection.
Post by Maryann Kempthorne, Coordinator, Open Education, BCcampus
The collection offers the core open textbooks that BCcampus is known for, but it also comes with a number of key features and enhancements we like to cheer about!
When you visit, here is what you can expect to find:
More Than Textbooks
Search and you will find course materials, syllabi, lesson plans, test banks, and other supplemental materials and our high-quality textbooks. Every resource is aligned with the 5Rs of open educational resources (OER) to allow you to reuse, retain, revise, remix, and redistribute content.
Use a whole book or just segments of content you prefer. Fold content into your course delivery with formats for e-reading, or integrate to your LMS or customizable XHTML/XML for course websites and so on. Current practices like digitally literate learning ideas (e.g. H5P content, multimedia-enhanced content, and UDL readiness) shine with the help of materials that are housed and evolving with the collection. We welcome you to explore.
Improved Findability
To make it easier for you to find OER, the B.C. Open Collection has improved metadata and search functionality. When searching, you can:
- Browse by subject area
- Search by keyword
- Search by B.C. course code
- Use filters to filter by subject, material type, and level
Commitment to Quality
We work hard to ensure resources in our collection are high quality. Part of how we do that is by working with a set of criteria. For more information on our frames of Textbook Quality Criteria and Course Review Process.
We also want to give you information that assists instructors with decisions on resource and classroom needs. As you browse look for tags on the resources. They include:
- Accessible: This resource meets the BCcampus accessibility criteria.
- Reviewed: This resource has been reviewed by a subject matter expert (reviews are posted on the book’s page in the collection.)
- Adopted: This resource has been adopted by a post-secondary instructor in B.C.
- Supplemental: This textbook has supplemental materials that accompany it.
Shared Globally, Developed Locally
The collection prioritizes B.C. and Canadian-authored OER relevant to us. Courses in the collection are labelled with the specific course they were designed for and mapped to the B.C. Transfer Guide. Despite this local focus, all resources are available for anyone anywhere to find, use and share.
Visit us here to learn more: About the B.C. Open Collection
Or jump right in and start using today: Explore the B.C. Open Collection
Have questions? Send us a message. Want to know more? Sign up for the BCcampus newsletter to stay informed and engaged with all the open education and other learning opportunities from BCcampus. We are working with you to help find the way to learning resources that are open, adaptable, inclusive, and relevant for students province-wide.