OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN UNDERGRADUATE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN UNDERGRADUATE CHALLENGES

Abstract

Open Education Resources are pedagogical resources which are available under open licences for reuse and remixing. These resources support collaborative development of education material, the ongoing evolution and improvement of the material and easy access to both educators and students. Several initiatives exist for OER in Canada, and resources specifically targeting engineering are beginning to emerge. At the moment, those efforts are fragmented. In line with the mission to the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA) OER SIG, this paper presents an overview of current Canadian and international Engineering OER initiatives. Based on the findings, several challenges and opportunities pertaining to engineering OER are identified and recommendations are provided for engineering instructors and institutions who wish to increase the use of OER in engineering programs. For instructors, this could be adapting OER where available. For those looking to develop OER, there may be grants and resources at the institutional and provincial levels to support this. For institutions, this may be supporting instructors in using or developing OER through grants or recognition.