Since 2012, the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills has funded B.C. Open Education initiatives and tasked BCcampus with managing it. BCcampus Open Education’s goal is to provide flexible and affordable access to post-secondary learning resources in B.C. by making available openly licensed textbooks that align with the most highly enrolled first- and second-year undergraduate subject areas, as well as with select skills-training and trades subject areas.
In 2018, the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills provided BCcampus with $250,000 for the creation, modification, distribution, and evaluation of textbooks for the British Columbia Adult Graduation Diploma (or Adult Dogwood). Courses covered include math, English, science, social science, computer studies, and education and career planning.
The Adult Basic Education (ABE) Zero Textbook Cost initiative kicked off in Summer 2018.
A steering committee of educators from across the province helped us identify possible pathways for learners. Next, instructors and coordinators began to review existing open textbooks for suitability and alignment with the British Columbia ABE curriculum.
We issued calls for proposals for the development of open educational resources (OER) across all subjects and levels in alignment with the ABE Articulation Handbook [PDF].
We have funded OER grants for the development of 19 OER. The available and upcoming resources are detailed in the ABE Program Framework. Completed resources are available in the BC Open Textbook collection in the Adult Basic Education category.
We have been encouraged and inspired by the passion and fervent enthusiasm of ABE instructors. This project would not have been possible without the dedication these educators have for their students.
Further Information
If you have questions about the project or ideas about Zero Textbook Cost please contact us.