Open Educational Resources

OER is open educational resources, teaching, learning, and research resources that, through permissions granted by the copyright holder, allow others to use, distribute, keep, or make changes to them. OER are teaching resources that have an open-copyright licence (such as one from Creative Commons), or they are part of the public domain and have no copyright. Depending on the licence used, OER can be freely accessed, used, re-mixed, improved, and shared.

Access free OER online or Get a printed copy for nominal fee

Open textbooks offered through us come in multiple formats. Many can be read online or delivered via PDF and EPUB (for e-readers) format for free, or can be printed via our print-on-demand service for a nominal fee. Find the book and check out the printing cost. We will notify you once it's ready to pick up/ship.

OER offered by BCcampus

The BCcampus has B.C. Open Collection for curated selection of open educational resources (OER) that can be accessed by educators in B.C. and beyond to use in the classroom, in an institutional learning management system, or on other teaching and learning platforms. All materials are openly licensed. This means they are free to use, customize, and share. Find Materials by Subject  and choose your free textbooks and enjoy downloading EPUB and PDF version. Follow along if you want to order hardcopy and choose your black & white or Colour version for a printing cost.

OER offered by Bookstore for 2024 Spring Semester

Here are the free open educational resources that students can study some books interactively or download epub/PDF version or Order a hard copy.

Instructor Name Course Name Course Code Open Textbook/OER Name Open Textbook/OER Link (if available) Notes
Frederick Popowich Introduction to Computing Science and Programming 1 CMPT 120 - D200 Think Python - How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Interactive Edition

https://runestone.academy/

runestone/books/published/

thinkcspy/index.html

This interactive text is available online for free

http://greenteapress.com/

thinkpython2/thinkpython2.pdf
Anne Lavergne Introduction to Computing Science and Programming I CMPT 120 -  D300 Think Python - How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Interactive Edition

https://runestone.academy/

runestone/books/published/

thinkcspy/index.html

This interactive text is available online for free.

http://greenteapress.com/

thinkpython2/thinkpython2.pdf
Victor Cheung Introduction to Computing Science and Programming I CMPT 120 - D400 Think Python - How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Interactive Edition

https://runestone.academy/

runestone/books/published/

thinkcspy/index.html

This interactive text is available online for free.

http://greenteapress.com/

thinkpython2/

thinkpython2.pdf
Erol Girt Introduction to Physics PHYS 100 - D100 College Physics

https://collection.bccampus.ca/

textbooks/college-physics-openstax-78/

 Available through Canvas also listed: Achieve Essentials for Openstax College Physics (1-term access) (ISBN: 9781319405786) unsure if this is also OA
Katrina Honigs Calculus I for the Social Sciences MATH 157 - D100 Calculus Early Transcendentals Differential & Multi-Variable Calculus for Social Sciences   Downloadable version from Canvas MATH 157 course container; the course notes are now online as well
Daniel Venn Calculus I for the Social Sciences MATH 157 - D400 Calculus Early Transcendentals Differential & Multi-Variable Calculus for Social Sciences   Downloadable version from Canvas MATH 157 course container; the course notes are now online as well

 

FAQs:

What is OER?

In the BCcampus Open Education Self-Publishing Guide, we’ve shared our definition of open educational resources (OER): “teaching, learning, and research resources that, through permissions granted by the copyright holder, allow others to use, distribute, keep, or make changes to them.”

OER are teaching resources that have an open-copyright licence (such as one from Creative Commons), or they are part of the public domain and have no copyright. Depending on the licence used, OER can be freely accessed, used, re-mixed, improved, and shared.

Are open textbooks OER?

Open textbooks are a subset of OER, and while we focus much of our effort on creating, assessing, sharing, and supporting open textbooks, there are many types of OER available, such as:

  • Online courses
  • Videos
  • Audio
  • Presentation slides
  • Syllabi
  • Course outlines
  • Supplemental materials, such as quizzes and assignments

Why should I use OER?

One of the driving factors for the adoption of OER, such as open textbooks, is they are free. But cost savings is not the only benefit of using OER – they are an essential part of an open pedagogy, and can be used to create a powerful learning experience for your students. Studies have revealed a “positive relationship between the use of OER and student academic achievement” [PDF] and suggest that OER may help to decrease withdrawal rates while increasing overall student grades.

Former BCcampus Director of Curriculum Services, Paul Stacey, shared a comprehensive article on the Economics of Open, which provides an abundance of reasons to choose and use OER.

OER can:

  • Increase access to education
  • Provide students with an opportunity to assess and plan their education choices
  • Showcase an institution’s intellectual outputs, promote its profile, and attract students
  • Convert students exploring options into fee-paying enrollments
  • Accelerate learning by providing educational resources for just-in-time, direct, informal use by both students and self-directed learners
  • Add value to knowledge production
  • Reduce faculty preparation time
  • Generate cost savings – (this case has been particularly substantiated for open textbooks)
  • Enhance quality
  • Generate innovation through collaboration