BCcampus Partners with Creative Commons to Support Open Licensing Education 

By Lauri Aesoph, operations specialist, Open Education, BCcampus

BCcampus has entered an exciting partnership with Creative Commons (CC) to grow open licensing expertise in the province by offering a reduced registration fee for the CC Certificate program. 

CC Certificates logo

Creative Commons is an international non-profit organization that empowers people to grow and sustain the thriving commons of shared knowledge and culture needed to address the world’s most pressing challenges. One of the ways CC aims to increase equitable access to education is through its online certificate program.

The CC Certificate program offers in-depth courses about CC licenses, open practices, and the ethos of the commons. Courses are composed of readings, quizzes, discussions, and practical exercises to develop learners’ open education skills. The training provides personalized engagement with expert facilitators and copyright lawyers in the field. Training takes place in a group setting with a ratio of 1:25 of facilitators to course participants. 

Affordable Creative Commons Training for B.C.

Beginning immediately, The regular cost for each course is US$500. 

There are three different CC Certificate programs to choose from: the CC Certificate for Educators focuses on communities involved in education; the CC Certificate for Librarians highlights communities involved in academic librarianship; and the CC Certificate for Open Culture focuses on galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. Anyone is welcome to take any of these courses. 

Krista Lambert, an instructional designer with the Centre for Teaching, Learning & Innovation at the Justice Institute of British Columbia in New Westminster, took the CC Certificate for Educators in 2018.  

“I was eager to gain a deeper understanding of the Creative Commons licenses and their application, particularly as it relates to open education,” said Krista. “I found the course to be an applied journey through the ins and outs of CC licenses. The content and their associated activities were comprehensive and relevant to my work in open education. I have reused many of the assignments from the course as part of presentations or workshops. I’d highly recommend this course to anyone interested in gaining confidence in their open education advocacy.” 


Schedule and Registration

The 15% discount code can be applied to any of the three training sessions offered during the upcoming year. Sessions are open for registration and each one offers all three CC programs.  Registration usually closes one week before the course starts or once a session has sold out.   

  • September 2024 (September 30 – December 1, 2024) 
  • January 2025 (January 27 – April 6, 2025) 
  • June 2025 (June 2 – August 10, 2025) 

Please register by following these steps: 

  1. Click on the CC Certificate registration link.  
  1. Select the course you would like to take.   
  1. Type BCCAMPUS15 in the promo code spot. You will see 15% deducted from the total amount owing before you pay.  

Alternatively, an institution can register several of its faculty and staff at one time and pay in bulk by emailing: learning@creativecommons.org.   

Creative Commons also has more scholarship tickets for the Open Culture Certificate courses! Use code: Y4GLAMSCHOLAR60 during registration to get 60% off your ticket, while scholarship tickets last.