In April of 2019, Melanie Mark, Minister of Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, announced funding of $3.26 million towards open education in British Columbia. This welcome infusion of financial support enables BCcampus to continue developing and distributing open educational resources—including open textbooks—that lower the cost of education for students while providing significant learning value.
The funding BCcampus has received in open education since 2012 has made a significant impact for students in British Columbia, with total savings currently in excess of $30 million. Post-secondary institutions in B.C. have recognized the opportunities for access and affordability through the adoption of OER, and we at BCcampus believe that now is the time to further that work.
Working with institutions, stakeholders, and faculty, BCcampus supports the development of entire suites of freely available resources—including textbooks, homework systems, and ancillary tools—to replace costly commercial products in Health Education.
The primary goal was the launch of Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) programs that will lower the financial barrier to post-secondary education for students. This was done by eliminating the cost of textbooks and other resources for their entire pathway to credential while providing faculty members with academic freedom to modify course materials to align with their curriculum.
Health Care Assistant
BCcampus provided a grant to TRU to develop an open textbook for Healing 3. This textbook became available in the BCcampus Open Textbook collection in Summer 2022.
As well, there is a project underway at CNC for the development of two guides for the Health Care Access – Partnership Program: Clinical Instructor Orientation for HCAP and Preceptor Orientation for HCAP.
Nursing
Authors at Selkirk College are developing a Numeracy for Nursing open textbook. This book was published in Summer 2022.
BCIT has done a lot of work developing nursing OER. First, a team adapted the Open RN Pharmacology textbook for a B.C. audience. BCIT also developed six Nursing Skills videos. These videos have been peer reviewed, and are Creative Commons licensed, which means they can be used with attribution or can be adapted for your context.
Finally, BCIT developed 4 virtual simulation scenarios using H5P and Pressbooks. These scenarios are also Creative Commons licensed and can be adapted to fit your curriculum.
Further Information
If you have questions about the project or ideas about OER in health, please contact the Open Education team here.
Download the following poster to share with colleagues, or contact us for print copies: