By Shristi Uprety, communication and engagement officer, BCcampus
Open Education Week (OE Week) is an annual event celebrating the progress and potential of open education worldwide. It’s a chance for educators, students, and institutions to share their achievements, learn from one another, and inspire future innovation.
In 2024, Open Education Week took place from March 4-8, bringing together communities from across British Columbia and the Yukon to celebrate and advance open education. To support the week’s activities, BCcampus Open Education, with a generous $10,000 grant from the Hewlett Foundation, provided ten $1,000 sponsorships to post-secondary institutions and organizations.
These sponsorships funded a diverse range of in-person and virtual events, including workshops, panel discussions, community celebrations, and strategic planning sessions. Each event was designed to promote open education, celebrate achievements in the field, and ignite new ideas for the future. The creativity and dedication demonstrated during these activities highlight the ongoing commitment to fostering accessible, inclusive, and innovative learning opportunities in the region.
Funded Projects
- BC Open Education Librarians
Speaker Autumm Caines hosted a talk titled, “Planes, trains, and generative AI: Recentering open education values in new technology adoption.” This event focused on the pedagogical implications of generative AI and how prioritizing values in pedagogy can help educators make informed decisions about new technology.
- Camosun College
Camosun hosted an Open Education Recognition Awards ceremony, honouring 41 faculty members who have contributed to and advocated for open education at the college, and especially for their work that follows the 6Rs of Indigenous Open Education: respect, relationships, responsibility, reverence, relevance, and reciprocity.
- Capilano University
Capilano University hosted an appreciation lunch for faculty using open educational resources (OER). The event included a thank you from an administrator, a student story, and a faculty story demonstrating how OER can both ease financial burdens as well as allow for the representation of diverse voices in classroom material.
- Nicola Valley Institute of Technology
BCcampus’ Arianna Cheveldave gave an introductory presentation on open education.
- Simon Fraser University
SFU hosted two events: a working lunch to discuss open education and a panel discussion featuring open education champions at the institution.
- University of British Columbia – Okanagan
UBC-O held a panel presentation and a roundtable discussion titled “Leading Conversations on Academic Integrity: OER for Teaching and Learning.”
- University of the Fraser Valley
UFV’s OER Review Sprint brought faculty together for a hands-on workshop to evaluate OER for their courses.
- University of Victoria
UVic posted a panel discussion with faculty who have created open textbooks through UVic’s ePublishing Services.
- Vancouver Island University
VIU hosted a presentation and discussion on graduate studies, with a focus on how to incorporate OER into courses as well as the potential to improve student affordability.
- Yukon University
YukonU faculty held a meaningful collaborative discussion called, “Regifting: Stories of Open Pedagogy.”
Reflections
These events highlighted the immense potential of open education to make learning more accessible and inclusive for everyone. A heartfelt thank you goes out to the Hewlett Foundation for their generous support and to the institutions that made Open Education Week 2024 truly unforgettable. Building on the success of the 2024 program, BCcampus is funding another round of sponsorships for Open Education Week 2025. Apply today!