OER at Georgian

What are Open Educational Resources (OER)?

OERs are free, openly-accessible resources of many shapes and sizes, including (but not limited to!)...

• video modules
• podcasts
• course outlines
• interactive activities
• assignments
• textbooks and much more!

Image source: Image by BCcampus adapted from
"5R framework" by David Wiley licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Overwhelmed by the idea of creating an OER? Don’t worry!

There are lots of ways you can incorporate OER into your courses - you don’t have to go straight to writing a complete textbook.

OER allow you to adapt and build upon the work of others in your field, while improving resource access for your students. This can start small and lead to great things.

Current OER Projects @ Georgian

Estimate of student savings by moving from commercial textbooks to OER at Georgian.

$364,688 / year

This number does not include courses that adopt OER but did not previously have a commercial textbook. The number will fluctuate as faculty review and adopt new OER materials. There are so many benefits for students and faculty beyond cost savings.

Take a look at our Success Stories to see how your colleagues are implementing OER in their courses.

OER News & Announcements

Library OER Design Studio – May 2023 update:

• Congratulations to faculty their successful project submissions for VLS2 (Feb 23, 2023)! Labour Economics for Leaders, APA Style for English for Academic Purposes, Enhanced Introductory College Chemistry
• Jen Booth will be transitioning to project lead end of May 2023. The library will continue to use a team approach to support faculty with the adoption and adaptation of OER.  

Library OER Design Studio - Fall 2022 update:

• We were thrilled to finish 3rd in popularity out of over 100 ideas (on Nov. 4, submission deadline) submitted at the Georgian College "Big Idea" campaign. Thank you for your likes and comments.
• Promoting the adoption of OER is included in the College's new Academic Plan (2022-2024)!  We are looking forward to helping faculty explore the resources available
• OER student assistant position for Winter 2023 is posted on Georgian Connects - applications due by November, 18, 2022.

BC Campus Open Library - new URL - August 2022

• BC Campus Open Library is migrating to a new system
• Issues with the old system may arise when trying to access Open Textbooks from ON CAMPUS at Georgian
• Use the new interface to avoid issues and email OER [at] georgiancollege.ca if you have any ongoing issues

OpenStax CNX Retiring - August 2022

• If you're using an OpenStax OER that is authored by someone in their community site, please check the URL
• OpenStax CNX is retiring and content that is not authored by OpenStax will be moved/archived in August 2022
• Affected materials have a green banner across top of page with details.

Are you using Lumen Learning resources?

• Please note that Lumen Learning has had some changes to the way they provide access to OER materials.
• If you currently use a Lumen Learning OER, please check to make sure your students are not being redirected to the Course Hero website. Contact us via oer [at] georgiancollege.ca  - we can help you sort out what's happened.

Library OER Design Studio - Summer 2022:

• The library is thrilled to announce the creation of the OER Design Studio, funded by VLS 2/eCampus Ontario. We've welcomed librarian Jessica Jones and graphic design student, Shaima, to our team. Using a team approach, we are helping faculty to discover, adopt and adapt OER for their courses in Fall 2022 and beyond. Stay tuned for more info!