Status: closed
Since 2012 the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training has funded B.C. open education initiatives and tasked BCcampus with managing them. Our goal is to provide flexible and affordable access to post-secondary learning resources in B.C. by making open educational resources (OER) available and supporting open practices.
In summer 2020 BCcampus began creating a collection of open courses to assist instructors and course developers in creating and updating their courses, particularly while transitioning from in-person teaching to online. The collection contains nine full courses that are openly licensed and ready for use.
BCcampus would like to add further open courses to the collection that align with open textbooks currently in the B.C. Open Textbook Collection. We are looking for B.C. applicants who have developed, adapted, or adopted an open textbook in our B.C. Open Textbook Collection to develop a new open course, or adapt an existing open course, that accompanies the textbook.
EDI Statement
BCcampus is committed to inclusion. From the workplace to our learning spaces, we value diversity and are actively working to decolonize our organization and the ways in which we collaborate with others. We believe that a more diverse team will help us better support the individuals and communities we work with. Please find the BCcampus definitions of equity, diversity, and inclusion on our website.
We encourage applications from members of groups with historical and/or current barriers to equity, including but not limited to:
- First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples, and all other Indigenous Peoples
- Members of groups that commonly experience discrimination due to race, ancestry, colour, religion or spiritual beliefs, or place of origin
- Persons with visible or invisible physical or mental disabilities
- Persons who identify as women
- Persons of marginalized sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions
We recognize that many of these identities intersect, and therefore equity, diversity, and inclusion can be complex. We value the contributions that each person brings and are committed to ensuring full and equal participation for all in our community.
Synopsis
This expression of interest is for individuals, groups, or institutions and their representatives (e.g., faculty members, articulation committees, teaching and learning centres, libraries, and OER working groups) in B.C. and the Yukon that are interested in developing or adapting open courses aligned with open textbooks available in the B.C. Open Textbook Collection.
Estimated completion time: Four months
Grant amount: Up to $8000 per course. Three options:
- $2000 for an existing course that requires little modification
- $5000 for an adaption or major revision of an existing course
- $8000 for development of a new course
Expectations and Requirements of Selected Applicants
The following commitments and actions are expected of successful applicants:
- Develop the open course in consultation with a BCcampus or an institutional instructional designer.
- Ensure the open course meets accessibility guidelines and is copyright compliant.
- Demonstrate a commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice in the design, content, and pedagogical approach of the open course.
- Release the open course with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence, which allows others to freely retain, copy, modify, remix, and redistribute the content .
- Complete the open course within agreed-on time frame.
- Include all source and editable files used in creating the resources, including any multimedia files, to easily enable further remixing and modifications.
- With BCcampus guidance, provide complete required metadata to accompany each individual resource developed.
- Complete required course templates, including course overview and assessment criteria.
- Respond to and make necessary modifications to material following final instructional design and quality reviews by BCcampus course publishing team.
- Complete a final report on the project.
- Agree to and participate in an interview about the project to be published on the BCcampus website.
- Application should include course code and description and what courses at other institutions in B.C. this course could transfer to (from the British Columbia Council on Admissions & Transfer guide).
- Application should include potential impact (in terms of course enrollments) at your institution.
Application Process
Complete and email the application form to mmeyers@bccampus.ca. The expression of interest will remain open until all grants have been distributed.
Project Requirements
For funding to be released, each of the open online courses must adhere to the minimum requirements established by BCcampus, ensuring maximum accessibility for everyone. This includes:
- Following the principles of Universal Design for Learning
- Incorporating Indigenous perspectives and pedagogies
- Considering equity, diversity, and inclusion while using inclusive practices
- Including the provision of resources necessary to complete the project, such as the assistance of an instructional designer, multimedia developer, librarian, and copyeditor
- Encouraging the use of activities that embrace open pedagogies
- Meeting the criteria for publication in the BCcampus open course collection. The course quality review will be done by an instructional designer who will use the BCcampus review developed for this purpose.
Review and Selection Process
Applications will be evaluated by an internal review committee based on the following criteria:
- Experience: Applicants have experience developing OER in B.C. post-secondary education. Preference will be given to applicants who have already developed or adapted an open textbook in the B.C. Open Textbook Collection.
- Plan for time line of completion of work.
- A realistic budget for the scope of work
For more information about the open course collection, please see the OER Collection website.
If you have questions, please email Melanie Meyers, project lead, Open Online Courses: mmeyers@bccampus.ca.
Complete and email the application forms to mmeyers@bccampus.ca.