From the Editors: We intend this book to act as a guide writ large for would-be champions of OER, that anyone—called to action by the example set by our chapter authors—might serve as guides themselves. The following chapters tap into the deep experience of practitioners who represent a meaningful cross section of higher education institutions in North America. It is our hope that the examples and discussions presented by our authors will facilitate connections among practitioners, foster the development of best practices for OER adoption and creation, and more importantly, lay a foundation for novel, educational excellence.

RMIT University Library & La Trobe University Library hosted this 2018 Forum.
Recordings of the speakers are available.
Lecture 1 – Rajiv Jhangiani
Zero Textbook Costs – Launching Canada’s first Zed Cred programs: How adopting open textbooks have widened access, enhanced success, and catalyzed innovation.
Lecture 2 – Nicole Allen – SPARC. Open Education Reducing Costs, Expanding Access, Improving Pedagogy.

"Openness has already transformed education at all levels around the world. In higher education more specifically, it has benefited learners and educators and influenced the way universities’ senior executives approach institutional strategic plans and policies." (p. 13)

" OER can contribute to solving the educational challenges related to: learning for the 21st century, fostering teachers’ professional development, containing educational costs, continually improving the quality of educational resources, widening the distribution of high quality educational materials, and breaking down the barriers to high-quality learning opportunities. Of particular importance among these challenges are teachers’ development and educational costs." (p. 16)

"Explaining open educational resources (OERs) and surrounding issues for senior managers, learning technologists, technical staff and educators interested in releasing OERs to the education community."

"In its simplest form, the concept of Open Educational Resources (OER) describes any educational resources (including curriculum maps, course materials, textbooks, streaming videos, multimedia applications, podcasts, and any other materials that have been designed for use in teaching and learning) that are openly available for use by educators and students, without an accompanying need to pay
royalties or licence fees." (p. 5)