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 Open and Affordable Course Materials Report 2018

I. Mandate

The working group will explore ways to facilitate the use of open and affordable course readings, textbooks, and other learning objects in support of the learning outcomes and priorities of Queen's academic programs. The purpose of this work is to:

• Provide course materials for students at the lowest possible cost
• Make better use of resources Queen's already pays for (i.e., subscribed/purchased library content)
• Increase the availability of accessible course materials for students with disabilities
• Reduce piracy and copyright infringement​

II. Objectives

1. Build an understanding of current best practices in the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) at other institutions, and the opportunities they afford at Queen's.
2. Identify gaps and opportunities in existing support to the Queen's community in finding and using high quality, affordable teaching and learning resources.
3. Develop and conduct a pilot project that aims to:
   1. Promote the availability of existing OER or other licensed resources for Queen's courses.
   2. Explore the supports that instructors need to create OER, including the technical infrastructure required to host and share them.
   3. Evaluate at a formative level the success of the pilot project and the impact of OER.
4. Document findings and provide recommendations for best practices in the design and use of OER and the support mechanisms required to enable campus-wide awareness and adoption of OER.

III. Timeline

The group will begin its work in Fall 2017, conduct a pilot in 2017–18, and report by Spring 2018.

IV. Membership

Other faculty are to be identified.

Chair: Martha Whitehead, Vice-Provost (Digital Planning) and University Librarian
Resources: Rosarie Coughlan, Scholarly Publishing Librarian; Mark Swartz, Copyright Manager
Secretary: Nadia Timperio, Teaching and Learning Coordinator, Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic)