11:10 a.m.
Dear colleagues,
As we wind down for a well-deserved holiday break, I wanted to take a moment to express my
gratitude to this incredible community and to share just a few highlights of our progress
in 2018:
* We continue to be Canada’s leading institutional adopter of open educational
resources<https://open.bccampus.ca/open-textbook-stats/> and the number of faculty
who are adopting open textbooks continues to grow rapidly (and now spans every Faculty
& School at KPU).
* This year we launched our (and Canada’s) second Zed Cred
program<http://www.kpu.ca/news/2018/08/29/kpu-launches-second-program-can-be-taken-zero-textbook-cost>,
leading to the Adult Graduation Diploma (our first one, launched in Fall 2017, leads to
the Certificate in
Arts<http://www.kpu.ca/news/2017/11/01/kpu-unveils-sweet-suite-courses-no-cost-textbooks>).
Overall, our Zed Cred initiative encompassed more than 350 sections taught by more than
100 instructors and saved our students more than $1.2 million!
* Our course timetable now offers a searchable field for Zed Cred
sections<https://media.kpu.ca/media/Kwantlen+Polytechnic+University%27s+Zed+Cred+initiative/0_afre278g>.
* Faculty are now able to set up a print-on-demand service for open
textbooks<https://media.kpu.ca/media/Print+on+demand+setup+tutorial/0_izv6teqn>,
thanks to the support of the KPU Bookstore & Print Shop.
* During Open Access week the KPU Library soft-launched OPUS, an open publishing
suite<https://www.kpu.ca/library/OPUS> that supports faculty and staff who are
creating and adapting open educational resources. You will hear more about this service in
the new year.
* We had two cohorts of cross-disciplinary faculty learning communities on open
pedagogy<http://www.kpu.ca/open/pedagogy> this year. As interest in this innovative
approach to teaching and learning continue to grow, several workshops will be offered to
faculty in the new year, in partnership with the Teaching & Learning Commons.
* KPU faculty and staff received several grants from BCcampus to support our continued
work in open education. Several others have successfully received Creative Capital grants,
0.6% PD fund awards, and paid educational leave to support their open education
projects.
I am especially grateful to the members of our Open Education Working
Group<http://www.kpu.ca/open/oewg>, whose support and guidance have been critical to
this progress. The next year holds great promise for open education at KPU. We will
continue to offer OER grants<http://www.kpu.ca/open/grants>, are busy planning
events for Open Education week<https://www.openeducationweek.org/>g/>, and are building
towards several exciting milestones. But, for now, we enjoy a well-deserved break ☺
I wish you all a joyous and restful holiday season. See you in 2019!
Warm regards,
Rajiv
[logo gif]
Rajiv Jhangiani, Ph.D.
Special Advisor to the Provost on Open Education & Psychology Instructor
Kwantlen Polytechnic University
t 604.599.3253 e rajiv.jhangiani@kpu.ca<mailto:rajiv.jhangiani@kpu.ca>
www.kpu.ca/open<http://www.kpu.ca/open>
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