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Open Education is a form of learning that is accessible to individuals on a grand scale; OER (Open Educational Resources) are free, making them accessible for learners of all socioeconomic backgrounds. eCampusOntario is a current leader in the field of Open Education, offering a variety of educational tools and resources to learners and post secondary institutions across Ontario.

Open Textbook Library

A collection for learners and educators alike.

The Open Textbook Library is a way for students to access free textbooks and academic materials. It's both accessible and free, two factors that students value at a time when traditional textbooks are costly and printed in limited quantity. All of the resources and textbooks in the Open Textbook Library can be downloaded for free and printed on demand for a minor fee.

Under Creative Commons licensing, the library also benefits Ontario educators by allowing them to adapt, adopt and remix materials, which can then be used by colleagues or students in new contexts.

The future of online textbooks

By allowing both learners and educators to have access to the library, eCampusOntario can help facilitate the circulation of Open knowledge and ensure that the library expands and flourishes as its user base grows.

Open Publishing Infrastructure

The Open Textbook Library will be equipped with cutting-edge technology thanks to a joint effort between eCampusOntario and Ryerson University. Both partners will be spearheading an Open Publishing Infrastructure prototype project, a community project that will work towards ensuring the Open Textbook Library is future-proofed and built with the right technology.

The full team from Ryerson University includes the Learning and Teaching Office, the Office of eLearning, staff from Library and Archives, individuals from the Chang School of Continuing Education's Digital Education Strategies, and staff from Computing and Communications Services. The infrastructure project will be developed with open source software from Pressbooks. Overall, the project will be a vital addition to the expansion of the capabilities of the Open Textbook Library and OER in the province of Ontario.

Open Textbook Initiative

The Open Textbook Initiative funded the creation of high-quality digital course content that can be freely reused, revised, adapted, remixed, redistributed, and retained by institutions to support online and technology-enabled teaching and learning. The Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development, through the initiative invested $1M towards the creation and adaptation of open textbooks including French language content, Indigenous studies and subject areas of high enrolment in first and second year college and university courses.

Not simply resources....

...but tools that stem from innovation

eCampusOntario is rethinking learning resources. Through seminars, sponsorships and educational events, we are advancing very important conversations around the concept of Open. The organization has been involved in the development of three major industry events which have encouraged universities and colleges to learn more about Open and the practical uses of OER.

These include the Open Education Ontario Summit (hosted by eCampusOntario), the Creative Commons Global Summit (sponsored by eCampusOntario), and the ORION THINK: Open Conference (also sponsored by eCampusOntario).

Learn More Extend

Extend Your Teaching Practise

Explore skills, knowledge and attributes that might extend your teaching and learning practise and enrich your professional development. Six modules, all openly licensed to be remixed, reused and redistributed.

Learn More Open Textbook Library

Open Textbook Library

The Open Textbook Library provides learners and educators access to free textbooks and other relevant academic materials. It's a revolutionary resource that allows educators to adopt texts for their students or adapt for relevant, localized content.

Learn More Explore the Sandbox

Ed-Tech Sandbox

The Sandbox currently contains three educational resources: Virtual Reality Lab technology, an experiential learning platform, and an Open Badging initiative. Educators can browse the Sandbox, share ideas, and advance their online learning methods with these cutting-edge tools.

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Open Educational Resources | eCampusOntario

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Open Education is a form of learning that is accessible to individuals on a grand scale; OER (Open Educational Resources) are free, making them accessible for learners of all socioeconomic backgrounds. eCampusOntario is a current leader in the field of Open Education, offering a variety of educational tools and resources to learners and post secondary institutions across Ontario.

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Keynote address on June 8, 2017 #GoOERLibs

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OUSA Policy Paper on OER

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OERs are broadly defined as educational resources that live online and are designed for anyone to openly share, revise and create material. The most recognized and relevant example of OERs are open textbooks. Often, these textbooks are designed in a way where instructors can remove chapters, replace older examples with newer or more course-relevant examples, or even integrate their own research into the readings.

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The Benefits of Open Educational Resources (OER):  A Review of Recent Empirical Literature (2017)

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Since open education usually occurs at a different time and different place for most individuals across the world, certain technologies need to be utilized to enhance the program. These technologies are primarily online and serve a variety of purposes. Websites and other computer-based training may be used to provide lecture notes, assessments, and other course materials.

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Day 1 ActivityFind (or make) and share a video, web page, illustration, photo, or diagram that explains what open education means to you as you begin this course. Include information about what you would like to to learn more about over the next two weeks. You can choose to share your work in the Day 1 discussion forum in the course shell, in a social media space, with family, friends, and colleagues, or just save your output for your own reflection.

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Day 1 ActivityFind (or make) and share a video, web page, illustration, photo, or diagram that explains what open education means to you as you begin this course. Include information about what you would like to to learn more about over the next two weeks. You can choose to share your work in the Day 1 discussion forum in the course shell, in a social media space, with family, friends, and colleagues, or just save your output for your own reflection.