The CTE and the CSU would like to recognize the faculty members who are using open educational resources and making important contributions to student learning. Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials available in any format or medium that are either in the public domain or released under an open license. These resources allow free access and grant permission for others to use, modify, adapt, and share them without cost. They are an integral part of open education.
There are three key advantages of using OER in the classroom:
- Equity: Removes cost barriers, making learning more accessible.
- Innovation: Supports flexible and creative teaching.
- Collaboration: Encourages global sharing of educational resources. (UNESCO, n.d).
There is also research to support the use of OER and student success in higher education (Colvard & Watson, 2018) and a recent study that looked at the impact of KPU’s Zero Textbook program elicited a small positive impact on student course performance and no tradeoffs between the savings of the textbooks for students and their ability to achieve student learning outcomes (Jhangiani, Pakkal, Xia, 2025).
Making the decision to use OER can take work, and adapting those materials to support the unique needs of learners often takes even more time, care, and effort. So, on March 10th, from 11:30 to 1:00 pm in the Maple Lounge at Capilano University, the CTE and the CSU will be hosting a lunch for all faculty members who are currently using OERs. Please fill out this short form to RSVP.
References
Colvard, N. B., & Watson, C. E. (2018). The impact of open educational resources on various student success metrics. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(2), 262–275. https://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/pdf/IJTLHE3386.pdf
Jhangiani, R., Pakkal, O., & Xia, X. (2025). The Multi-Year Impact of Canada’s First Zero Textbook Cost Initiative. Open Praxis, 17(2), 326–348. https://doi.org/10.55982/openpraxis.17.2.832
UNESCO. (n.d.). Open Educational Resources. UNESCO. Retrieved September 25, 2025, from https://www.unesco.org/en/open-educational-resources
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