In April of 2019, Melanie Mark, Minister of Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training, 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 received between 2003–2018 has made a significant impact for students in British Columbia, with total savings currently in excess of $14 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 will support 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 is to launch Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) programs that will lower the financial barrier to post-secondary education for students 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
We are pleased to announce that we have provided a grant to TRU to develop an open textbook for Healing 3.
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.
If you have questions about these projects, please contact Krista Lambert, project manager at klambert@bccampus.ca
Nursing
Authors at Selkirk College are developing a Numeracy for Nursing open textbook. This book will be ready in Fall 2021.
BCIT has begun a lot of work developing nursing OER. First, a team has started the work of adapting the Open RN Pharmacology textbook for a B.C. audience with an estimated completion date of Fall 2021.
Second, BCIT is developing a number of Nursing Skills videos. We are looking for external reviewers for these videos. If you are interested, please contact Krista Lambert, Project Manager at klambert@bccampus.ca.
Finally, a third group is developing virtual simulation scenarios using H5P and Pressbooks. These simulations also require external reviewers. So again, if you are interested, please contact Krista Lambert, Project Manager at klambert@bccampus.ca.
Advisory Group
To help guide the work, BCcampus has put together a system-wide advisory group consisting of individuals familiar with the identified health programs.
|
Name |
Organization |
|
Rhonda Benke |
Douglas College |
|
Katelyn Ranger |
Ministry of Health |
|
Kathy Harms |
Justice Institute of British Columbia |
|
Nirmal Dhaliwal |
Kwantlen Polytechnic University |
|
Neil Wereley |
Ministry of Health |
|
Brad Mladenovic |
Simon Fraser University |
|
Heather Hepworth |
College of the Rockies |
|
TBD |
Vancouver Island University |
Further Information
If you have questions about the project or ideas about OER in health, please contact project manager Krista Lambert at klambert@bccampus.ca.
Download the following poster to share with colleagues, or contact us for print copies: