Open: OER in the Current Educational Climate

(Time to Read: 3 mins.)

I’d like to start this post with a lit­tle update on the num­ber of OER adop­tions at VCC over the last three terms. It is impor­tant to rec­og­nize this data col­lec­tion is reliant on peo­ple self-report­ing; there are unde­ni­ably OERs being used in class­es which we do not know about.

With that con­text, here is the com­par­i­son of OERs adopt­ed, the num­ber of stu­dents reg­is­tered in those class­es, and the esti­mat­ed over­all sav­ings from the last four terms:

Term	OER Adop­tions	Stu­dents Reg­is­tered	Over­all Esti­mat­ed Sav­ings
Spring/Summer 2024	30	1024	$102,400
Fall 2024	46	3200	$320,000
Win­ter 2025	55	1057	$105,700

What these num­bers demon­strate is the same real­i­ty we have all wit­nessed this term, excel­lent work is being done, OER adop­tions are on the rise, but stu­dent num­bers have dwin­dled.

Leveraging OER considering Federal Regulations on International Education

As col­leges nation­al­ly begin to feel the impact of the future of inter­na­tion­al stu­dent enroll­ment decline, I have seen an uptick in inter­est around the use of Open Edu­ca­tion­al Resources. In this post, I am going to work through ways that OERs and Open Edu­ca­tion could be lever­aged to sup­port inno­va­tion in the face of the impend­ing shift due to cuts to inter­na­tion­al stu­dent work per­mits. I am by no means sug­gest­ing OERs are the solu­tion to all of our prob­lems; instead, I am dis­cussing OERs in the con­text of our cur­rent edu­ca­tion­al cli­mate.

Instructors

For instruc­tors, OER aligns with VCC’s Strate­gic Inno­va­tion Plan, and UN STG. This align­ment allows for those inter­est­ed in pur­su­ing OER projects to lever­age insti­tu­tion­al goals for fund­ing and sup­port.

At VCC, we are often guid­ed by our Strate­gic Inno­va­tion Pri­or­i­ties, which dic­tate the avenues we pur­sue to improve the edu­ca­tion­al expe­ri­ence of our stu­dents. Draw­ing on these Strate­gic Inno­va­tion Pri­or­i­ties, OERs sup­port aca­d­e­m­ic inno­va­tion, cam­pus­es of the future and empow­ered peo­ple and inclu­sive cul­ture. OERs achieve this by rep­re­sent­ing a dynam­ic and ever updat­ed for­mat for learn­ing resources that allow unhin­dered access and shar­ing with­in the col­lege and more broad­ly to our exter­nal com­mu­ni­ty.

Glob­al­ly, we seek to align to the UN sus­tain­able devel­op­ment goals. These are guid­ing prin­ci­ples that seek to fos­ter col­lab­o­ra­tion to devel­op a “shared blue­print for peace and pros­per­i­ty for peo­ple and the plan­et, now and into the future” (Unit­ed Nations Depart­ment of Eco­nom­ic and Social Affairs). In the UN sus­tain­able devel­op­ment goals, OER sup­ports goal num­ber 4. Qual­i­ty Edu­ca­tion, and touch­es on the many goals that refer to sus­tain­able and afford­able resources for all. OERs give us the abil­i­ty to use and cre­ate qual­i­ty learn­ing mate­ri­als that are wide­ly avail­able to be used. They also suc­cess­ful­ly reduce bar­ri­ers to learn­ing as they pro­vide afford­able and acces­si­ble learn­ing mate­ri­als and can eas­i­ly be attached to any course.

Students

For instruc­tors and admin­is­tra­tors, OERs present an impor­tant tool for reten­tion of domes­tic stu­dents.  Cours­es that are free of text­book costs are appeal­ing to all stu­dents as they reduce the over­all cost of edu­ca­tion. For any stu­dent expe­ri­enc­ing finan­cial hard­ship, an OER elim­i­nat­ing the cost of one text­book can make a major dif­fer­ence in access to edu­ca­tion, and course out­comes.

While using an OER, stu­dents also have mul­ti­ple means of access, which allows them more flex­i­ble learn­ing mate­ri­als. This could mean stu­dents who pre­fer phys­i­cal learn­ing mate­ri­als, can order print OERs (still a more afford­able option than tra­di­tion­al­ly pub­lished text­books) or can request the library to acquire a copy. Alter­na­tive­ly, stu­dents can access OERs online and often have the abil­i­ty to down­load them and read them offline if they have unre­li­able inter­net out­side of school.

As we look for new ways to improve stu­dent expe­ri­ence, advo­cate for fund­ing, and improve acces­si­bil­i­ty, my hope is OERs form a part of the solu­tion, and this post gives you a start­ing point. I am always hap­py to sit down and talk through any aspect of OERs and learn togeth­er! If you would like to learn more about OERs, check out the Open Edu­ca­tion­al Resources Sub­ject Guide or con­tact me at myoung@vcc.ca.

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Sources

• Van­cou­ver Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege. (n.d). Shap­ing the Future: Strate­gic Inno­va­tion Plan 2022–       2025. https://www.vcc.ca/strategic-plan/

• Unit­ed Nations Depart­ment of Eco­nom­ic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). The 17 Goals.                               https://sdgs.un.org/goals