Nominated by Dave Smulders, senior manager, faculty development, Centre for Teaching, Learning & Innovation and Melanie Meyers, program director, Centre for Teaching, Learning & Innovation at the Justice Institute of British Columbia.
The BCcampus Award for Excellence in Open Education is bestowed monthly. This November, the award goes to Krista Lambert. Krista (she/her) is the predominant champion of open learning at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC). She has made a significant impact through her unwavering dedication to open textbook development and open educational resources (OER). Her commitment to these initiatives stands out, especially as she consistently champions these causes even when administrators and faculty shift their focus. Krista is always seeking innovative ways to support students, ensuring they have access to affordable and high-quality educational resources.
Krista’s passion for open education brought her to the open education team at BCcampus as a project manager between 2018 and 2019, and again from 2019 to 2022. She oversaw the Adult Basic Education project, which sought to develop in-demand OER to create a Zero Textbook Cost program for adults upgrading their education in British Columbia. Through Krista’s work with authors, textbooks were created in areas such as math, science, English, and computing studies. Krista also managed the development of OER for nursing and healthcare assistant programs and applied her instructional design skills to several openly licensed course packs published through BCcampus grants.
Most recently, Krista played a key role in the development of a first-year psychology open textbook, Introduction to Psychology: Moving Towards Diversity and Inclusion. While adaptation projects such as these are inherently collaborative, Krista’s exceptional instructional design skills, creative thinking, and facilitation abilities were key to driving the project forward and ensuring its successful completion. Her relentless advocacy and hands-on involvement have made a lasting difference in the realm of open education and have kept the flame of inspiration alive at JIBC.
Krista’s passion for open education brought her to the open education team at BCcampus as a project manager between 2018 and 2019, and again from 2019 to 2022. She oversaw the Adult Basic Education project, which sought to develop in-demand OER to create a Zero Textbook Cost program for adults upgrading their education in British Columbia. Through Krista’s work with authors, textbooks were created in areas such as math, science, English, and computing studies. Krista also managed the development of OER for nursing and healthcare assistant programs and applied her instructional design skills to several openly licensed course packs published through BCcampus grants.
Most recently, Krista played a key role in the development of a first-year psychology open textbook, Introduction to Psychology: Moving Towards Diversity and Inclusion. While adaptation projects such as these are inherently collaborative, Krista’s exceptional instructional design skills, creative thinking, and facilitation abilities were key to driving the project forward and ensuring its successful completion. Her relentless advocacy and hands-on involvement have made a lasting difference in the realm of open education and have kept the flame of inspiration alive at JIBC.
You won’t find Krista’s name on the acknowledgements of the psychology open textbook, as she typically does not put herself forward to take credit, even when she so richly deserves it. This is apparent from her latest conference session title from the 2024 Open Education Conference, hosted in Providence, Rhode Island in October of this year. Her session was called, “Behind the Book: Learnings and Reflections from an Open Textbook Equity Adaptation Project,” and it was presented in partnership with Josie Gray and Harper Friedman of BCcampus. Likewise, when you do see her name in the credits of a project, it is always as part of a collaborative effort, because Krista is fundamentally a team player. Not only is she someone you can count on for great ideas, but she is also the kind of person you just want to work with because she is such good company. Colleagues assert that Krista is fun, creative, encouraging of others, and overall excellent.
“Krista has led a number of open education projects at JIBC over the past decade, and we owe their success to her tireless advocacy, enthusiasm, and commitment. There is never a time when Krista isn’t finding ways to make learning more accessible and affordable for students. Krista’s supportive and collaborative approach in working with faculty has truly advanced the adoption and creation of OER at JIBC and across the province.”
—Melanie Meyers, program director, Centre for Teaching, Learning & Innovation, Justice Institute of British Columbia
Relevant Links
- Creating Open and Accessible Learning Materials (blog post from the JIBC Centre for Teaching, Learning & Innovation)
- Designing Open Educational Resources (OER) Using a Paid Platform (blog post by JIBC CTLI staff)