About the Quest

Hunter and Phoebe found Nick! Nick is an OER jack-of-all-trades with tech expertise. He says:

Take this item. It will help you on your quest!

OER Day has been an exciting tradition at Ontario Tech since the ancient days of 2019. Since that time, brave heroes of open have saved students nearly $1 million in textbook costs. 

The Quest for Open is a choose-your-own-adventure style webquest. We have a variety of rich resources for you to use at your own pace, before or after the live event. You may also wish to use this in your teaching and are welcome to do so - please drop us an email at oer@ontariotechu.ca to let us know!

Date and Time

OER Day at Ontario Tech is March 11, 2022. Our website will launch with asynchronous content that you can browse at your own pace.

Browse this site to learn more about how you can contribute to open education at Ontario Tech University or your own place of learning.

Who can participate?

Open embraces diverse viewpoints, narratives, experiences, and perspectives. Faculty, students, staff, and members of the community, including those from other post-secondary institutions, are invited to join us. Everyone is welcome to join the experience of The Quest for Open. If you have accessibility requirements, please let us know by sending us an email. Please be aware that The Quest is governed by a code of conduct.

Why open?

Open educational resources are not just about removing the costs associated with learning material purchases. Instead, OER are about increasing access for students by lessening the financial barriers associated with post-secondary education. Reducing the amount needed to purchase traditional textbooks and other resources means that students have more money for other important parts of their lives, such as childcare, transportation, and housing. Learn more about OER at our website.

Benefits of OER

The power of OER lies in their accessibility. Not only do they remove financial barriers to access, they also invite a variety of uses and adaptations that benefit all learners. The benefits below work together to make OER integral to the growth and sustainability of equitable education.

Benefits for Students

Cost Saving: OER offer affordable learning resources for students, at low cost or often with no cost.

Developmental: Digital OER allow students to practice with various technology offerings, improving digital literacy.

Accessible: Many OER offer enhanced support for those with accessibility needs, including screen reader software support.

Flexible: By offering print and various digital formats, OER give students the flexibility to learn on any device at any time.

Benefits for Faculty

Flexible: OER give faculty the flexibility to select or modify the text to suit their context for their students.

Collaborative: OER can be created with colleagues, allowing for diverse perspectives to be included in the work.

Current: Being able to modify OER as needed allows faculty to add current research, personal research results, and correct errors without waiting for the next edition.

On Affordability

Student affordability is just one reason to choose OER over traditional resources. There are many other high quality learning resources that cost little or nothing for students. While they are of minimal cost, these resources are typically not covered by Creative Commons licenses, and thus, have restrictions on their usage, including copying and editing.

Affordable resources include:

Choosing affordable resources is a great way to help your students. Be aware that access to free resources is not guaranteed - at any time, access to a resource may be lost or restricted to users who pay for the service.