4:58 p.m.
Dear Colleagues,
Consider one or more opportunities to engage with open education in the New Year!
1. [Extended] Open Education Research Fellow—Now accepting applicants
If you’re interested in research and building upon your experiences with Open Educational
Resources (OER), the Open Education Research
Fellowship<https://www.kpu.ca/open/research-fellowship> is for you!
Receive up to $4500 in funding for this annual fellowship that runs from January 1 to
December 31 and is aimed at supporting scholarly research on open educational practices by
regular faculty at KPU. This may include investigations into the cost savings,
perceptions, outcomes, and use of open educational resources (see the Open Education
Group’s COUP framework<https://openedgroup.org/coup>) as well as research on the
perceptions and impact of renewable assignments and other forms of open pedagogy.
For more information and to apply by January 29, 2021 visit:
https://www.kpu.ca/open/research-fellowship
Hear why open is so important to our current Research Fellow:
“[Open] is a pathway for me to be student-centred for all my students because it removes
financial and other barriers that might be exclusionary. By using OER and open pedagogy
practices, I am working with students, amplifying their perspectives, experiences, and
voices. As KPU’s inaugural Open Education Research Fellow, I am conducting one of the
first studies to explore the perceptions of faculty and students towards open pedagogy, in
the hopes that faculty and administrators can make informed choices about open education
practices and its support.” -Melissa Ashman (Faculty of Business)
2. Open Educational Resources (OER) Grants—Now accepting applicants
Support KPU’s commitment to open education by applying to the OER Grant program.
Regular faculty can apply for up to $4000 in funding to create OER or up to $2000 to adapt
existing OER!
In Spring 2020, Statistics Canada collected data from over 100,000 postsecondary students
reporting on the impacts of
COVID-19<https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2020032-eng.htm>.
Forty-eight percent of students with a job reported either losing their job or being
temporarily laid off. Results from a 2017
study<http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/3012/4206> of BC
postsecondary institutions, including KPU, showed that 54% students did not purchase a
required textbook at least once. Study after study, including at
KPU<https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2018.1.5>.5>, has also shown that students
have achieved the same or better outcomes when using OER.
Join over 400 of your colleagues who actively engage with open education by saving
students money and increasing accessibility to educational resources. Participating in the
OER Grant program can enrich student learning and provide an opportunity to explore your
pedagogical practice in a collaborative and supportive environment.
Adapt OER by:
* Updating or localizing existing textbooks
<https://libguides.kpu.ca/opentextbooks>
* Incorporating interactive components through H5P
applications<https://h5p.org/content-types-and-applications>
* Developing ancillary resources (such as question banks), including collaborating
with students through open pedagogical practices
Create OER by:
* Authoring new open textbooks in areas of need
* Creating open courseware, including videos, lecture slides, learning activities, and
more
* Establishing open access journals
To apply and for more information visit kpu.ca/open/grants
<https://www.kpu.ca/open/grants>
Applications are now open and will be accepted until January 15, 2021.
🔗<https://media.kpu.ca/media/What+are+Open+Educational+ResourcesF/0_8zhj26kp> OER
are materials that are freely accessible and openly available for anyone to use, re-mix,
improve and redistribute. This could include images, videos, interactive simulations,
worksheets, and of course textbooks.
For more information or support with open educational practices and OER, please contact
the Office of Open Education: www.kpu.ca/open/connect
<https://www.kpu.ca/open/connect>
3. Cascadia 2021—Call for Proposals
The call for proposals for Cascadia 2021 — an online open education conference hosted by
BCcampus from April 27 to 29, 2021 — is now open.
BC Campus invites you to submit a session proposal that pertains to one of our six
conference focus areas, which are:
1. Equity and access
2. Scalability
3. Fostering growth in the OER ecosystem
4. Adaptability in trades, vocational, and career training
5. Orientation to open education
6. Collaborative practices
Please see the Cascadia 2021 Call for
Proposals<https://cascadia.bccampus.ca/call-for-proposals/> for further information.
The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2021.
__
On behalf of the Office of Open Education, wishing you all a restful and renewing holiday
break. See you in 2021!
[logo gif]
Urooj Nizami; MISt, MA (she/her)
Open Education Strategist, Office of Open Education
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
e urooj.nizami@kpu.ca<mailto:urooj.nizami@kpu.ca>
w www.kpu.ca/open<http://www.kpu.ca/open>
Subscribe to the KPU Open listserv
here<https://lists.bccampus.ca/mailman/listinfo/openkpu>
Kwantlen Polytechnic University ► Where thought meets action
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At KPU, we work, study, and live in a region south of the Fraser River which overlaps with
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