Since USask began the campaign to support Open Education in the fall of 2014, USask students have saved more than $5,000,000 through instructors supporting and adopting Open Educational Practices (OEP). In most cases, this has come from instructors switching from commercial textbooks to Open Educational Resources (OER), primarily open textbooks. Each year a growing number of USask instructors choose to integrate open pedagogy activities in their courses, where students are the creators of learning content instead of simply consumers of it.

Open Education Week highlights our USask instructors, staff, and students sharing their stories and accomplishments from open textbook creation and a new book launch, how to engage and build OER with on campus supports, to making the move to include OEP as part of curriculum renewal. Register for sessions below!

Calendar of Events

In person workshops are labelled 
Online sessions via Zoom are labelled 

Click on a session title in the calendar to jump down the page to the description and registration link.

What's happening with Open at USask

Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: *Moved online  

Join us for an enlightening panel discussion on the current and future state of Open Educational Practices at USask. Gain insights into the latest developments in Open Education and learn about the benefits of this initiative for students and educators alike. In addition to the panelists below, you will also hear perspective from a current USask student, one of thousands who have benefited from the efforts of open work at USask. Please register below to recieve the zoom link or email GMCTL@usask.ca.

Panelists include:

• Dr. Nancy Turner, Assoc. Vice Provost Teaching and Learning
• Dr. Daryl Janzen, Physics & Engineering Physics
• Jo Ann Murphy, Assistant Dean, Learning and Curriculum Support, University Library
• Heather M. Ross, Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning

• Click once to register

The Student Perspective: Promoting Open Access

Time: 1:15 pm - 2:15 pm
Location:*Moved online  

Creating and using open access education resources is a daunting task and it can be hard to see how undergraduate students can contribute to open education. In this presentation we will examine practical actions students can take immediately and in the future to contribute to open access and make education and knowledge more accessible to themselves and others. Please click below for the online access details.

Presenters include:

• Omar Haque
• Tanasha Ifthekar
• Alyssa Anand

• Click to register via Library's website

Open Pedagogy: Understanding why students are highly motivated and challenged by creating OER

Time: 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Location:*Moved online  

Join us for a meaningful conversation on Open Pedagogy to empower student agency in undergraduate and graduate level courses. Be inspired by examples of how co-creating Open Educational Resources (OER) with students can foster digital literacy skills and produce engaging, inclusive, and sustainable learning experiences. Gain insights on how to build a classroom community focussed on inquiry through collaborative content creation and knowledge sharing. Please register below to recieve the zoom link or email GMCTL@usask.ca.

Guests include:

• Dr. Paula MacDowell, College of Education
• Kristin Moskalyk, Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning
• Katrina Korchinski, College of Education

• Click once to register

Creation and Adoption of an Organic Chemistry Open Textbook at USask

Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location:*Moved online  

The organic chemistry instructors at the University of Saskatchewan decided in 2021 to adopt open resources in introductory courses. This decision was due to the increased financial pressure faced by students, especially those from disadvantaged groups, as well as to the greater flexibility in modifying the resources to suit our needs.

Several existing open resources were identified with the goal of collating them into a single textbook. It became apparent that this approach would result in a textbook which poorly or confusingly addressed some topics, and entirely new material was generated as well. This talk will focus on the approach the authors took for collating material, the main benefits and drawbacks they encountered using pre-existing material, and the solutions used to overcome said issues.

Student feedback on the resulting book, with emphasis on student-perceived advantages and disadvantages, will round out the discussion. An understanding of organic chemistry is not required.

Please register below to recieve the zoom link or email GMCTL@usask.ca.

Facilitators:

• Steven M. Langdon, Chemistry
• Dr. Michel Gravel, Chemistry

• Click once to register

OER, Copyright, and Generative AI

Time: 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Location:*Moved online  

Bring your questions, thoughts, and curiosity to a discussion on considerations for the use of generative AI and copyright when working on an open educational practices project. Heather M. Ross and Liv Marken will lead this conversation that will delve into the practical and ethical implications of this work. Please register below to recieve the zoom link or email GMCTL@usask.ca.

Facilitators:

• Heather M. Ross, Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning
• Liv Marken, Learning Specialist, Writing, University Library

• Click once to register

Book Launch: Sustainability Teaching Practices with the USask Sustainability Fellows

Time: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: St. Thomas More, St. Basil Atrium 

To support instructors in designing, instructing, and assessing in ways that build student competencies for sustainability, six Sustainability Faculty Fellows were appointed for a two-year term. Over the last year, the Sustainability Faculty Fellows have collaborated on a book that acts as a resource guide, offering the lessons learned from embedding sustainability across their own courses and programs.

This event celebrates the development of this book and showcases the great work of the fellows over the past two years. The USask Sustainability Fellowship includes:

• Brooke Klassen, Assistant Professor, Management and Marketing, Edwards School of Business
• Dr. Eric Micheels, Associate Professor, Agricultural and Resource Economics, College of Agriculture and Bioresources
• Dr. Kate Congreves, Assistant Professor, Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture and Bioresources
• Shannon Forrester, Lecturer, College of Kinesiology
• Tate Cao, Assistant Professor, Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development, College of Engineering
• Dr. Ulrich Teucher, Associate Professor, Psychology and Health Studies, College of Arts and Science

• Click once to register

Introduction to Using Pressbooks

Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Location: Online - Zoom

Pressbooks is an online platform for creating books (and other book-like learning materials), including open educational resources (OER). It enables authors and publishers to design, format, and share their books in several ways, including in web-based and digital/ebook formats, or as print-ready PDFs. Pressbooks is used by independent authors and educational institutions around the world.

In this hands-on webinar, you will learn how to use Pressbooks to create, build, and adapt online books and OER on the USask Open Press network. We will cover the basics of structuring your book, adding and formatting content, and briefly look at some ways you can enhance your book with embedded media (like images, video, and H5P activities). Participants who do not already have a USask Pressbooks account and who wish to join in on some hands-on building should email Julie Maier, GMCTL with their NSID before the session. Julie will generate a new Pressbooks user account for you and a “sandbox” book that you can explore during the session, and continue building with later.

Facilitator:

• Julie Maier, Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning

• Click once to register

Accessing Funding for Open Educational Practices

Time: 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Location: Murray, GMCTL Classroom 50.12

In this information session, Heather will review funding that is available for USask projects with open educational resources and for projects involving students engaging in open educational practices. She will also explore how to apply for this funding and the various supports available.

Facilitator:

• Heather M. Ross, Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching & Learning

• Click once to register

Using Harvest for Open Educational Practices

Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Location: Online - Zoom

Share your work more effectively with Creative Commons Licenses and HARVEST, USask's online repository! We'll use our new Creative Commons Quick Start Guide to get you into the habit of using these licenses.

Then we'll introduce HARVEST, which is a repository run by the library that includes free and open-access preservation and discovery for open educational resources, journal articles, and other outputs. Contact harvest@library.usask.ca with any questions.

Facilitator:

• Emily Hopkins, Repository Coordinator, University Library

• Click once to register

Integrating OER as a Part of Curriculum Change

Time: Cancelled
This session will focus on integrating Open Educational Resources into courses, most specifically during significant curriculum change processes. Coverage will include factors to consider in choosing OERs, limitations that may be encountered, potential advantages of OERs, as well as considerations specific to curriculum change. Time will also be spent on downstream factors, after your curriculum changes are set in place. Attendees will leave with a checklist of issues to consider as they work OERs into their curricular renovations.

Facilitator:

• Dr. Sean Maw, Jerry G. Huff Chair in Innovative Teaching & Associate Professor, Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development, Biomedical Engineering

1:1 Support - Getting Started with Open Educational Practices

Time: Cancelled
Bring your questions about Open Educational Practices (OEP) ranging from “What are open textbooks?” to “How do I mark an open pedagogy project?” to “My students created great resources, but now what do I do with them?” to "How do I access funding for this work?"

Our facilitators with expertise in OEP will speak with you one-to-one to answer your questions and provide you with support.

Facilitators:

• Heather M. Ross, Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching & Learning
• Julie Maier, Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning
• Emily Hopkins, Repository Coordinator, University Library