Open Education

2024 OEP Program Stats (to date)

The University of Regina Open Education and Publishing (OEP) Program supports and facilitates the creation and use of open educational resources for teaching and learning.

The OEP Program strives to raise awareness among faculty members of the benefits of Open Educational Resources (OER) for teaching and learning in the classroom through offering various information sessions throughout the year. The program provides funding to support the development of OER by faculty for use in courses at the University.

The grant-funded OER are peer reviewed to ensure that they maintain as high a quality standard as possible. The OEP Program also seeks to make sure that the funded projects have a sustainability plan for their continued development, which is key for the continuous improvement and overall quality of the OER.

The OEP Program assists faculty members in the adoption and development of open courseware which aims to enhance teaching and learning experiences. To this end, the program compiles a list of open courseware available for use by faculty both within and outside the University of Regina. The OEP Program collaborates closely with the Archer Library and CCE / Flexible Learning Division in providing such supports for faculty. The Archer Library has an Open Access site https://library.uregina.ca/openaccess as well as information on open educational resources available at https://library.uregina.ca/research/oer. The Library provides a few links to open educational resources at this second link.

To achieve its objectives, the OEP Program

• advocates for the use of OER in teaching and learning across the University;
• administers grants for the creation and adaptation of OER in teaching and learning;
• provides support for faculty engaged in the development and use of OER in teaching and learning at the University;
• organizes workshops/webinars to raise awareness of the benefits of OER for teaching and learning;
• collaborates with other units across the University to promote awareness of OER;
• maintains connections with OER programs at other institutions in Canada and abroad; and
• represents the University of Regina nationally and internationally at events related to OER.

Program Administration

As the cost of traditional (print) textbooks increases and access to journals and other educational materials becomes more difficult due to expensive licensing fees, universities and governments are looking for ways to reduce student expenses and improve access to education. Open textbooks, and other open educational resources, are viewed as one potential solution.

In 2015, the Government of Saskatchewan provided funding for the development of open textbooks and other open educational resources at post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan, with the goal of reducing overall costs for students and enriching teaching and learning. Soon after the announcement of the Government funding, the University of Regina created the Open Education and Publishing Program (formerly called the Open Textbook Publishing Program and OER Publishing Program). The Program provides funding, and support to faculty who want to develop open textbooks or supplementary teaching resources for use in first- and second-year courses offered at the University of Regina. The Program is administered through the Provost’s Office and it is under the oversight of the Associate Vice-President (Academic).

An Advisory Committee provides Program direction and guidance. The current members of the Program Advisory Committee are:

• Nilgün Önder, Associate Vice-President (Academic), Chair
• Alec Couros, Center for Teaching and Learning, Director
• Amber Fletcher, Faculty of Sociology & Social Studies, Professor
• Muhammad Asadullah, Faculty of Arts, Justice Studies, Professor
• Shuana Niessen, Open Education and Publishing Program, Manager
• Cara Bradley, Dr. John Archer Library, Research & Scholarship Librarian