Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) in Canada kicked off Open Education Week 2014 with a lively morning on Monday 10 March, 2014 where over fifty members of the KPU community shared ideas about open learning, Open Educational Resources (OER) and open textbooks.  Organized by KPU's INstitute for INnovation and Scholarship in Teaching and Learning (INSTL), under the leadership of Dr. Diane Salter, KPU's Vice Provost, Teaching and Learning, the goal of the event was to raise awareness of current initiatives at KPU as well as spark interest in future possibilities for both developing and using open resources including courses for OERu, and the use and development of open textbooks.  

Panel members: Wade Deisman (faculty KPU): Tak Sakato (faculty KPU); Wayne Tebb, Dean Business, KPU; Mary Burgess, BC Campus; David Porter, Executive Director, BC Campus; Todd Mundle, KPU Librarian.

Break out session

Guest post from KPU: Open Education Week 2014

The event began with a welcome from KPU President Dr. Alan Davis and Chair of the OERu Council of Chief Executive Officers. Alan shared provocative ideas for future learning scenarios (see presentation on slideshare). This was followed by a key note from Dr. David Porter, Executive Director of BC Campus and member of the OER Foundation Board of Directors (see presentation on slideshare). David shared ideas on the benefits of open resources (to students and faculty).

Following these opening talks, the KPU community engaged in break out discussions to consider their responses, questions and comments which were posed to the panel to continue the discussion following the breakout session. 

The event concluded with a wrap up from Dr. Sal Ferreras, Provost and Vice President Academic, who reinforced the benefit of continuing to explore the exciting possibilities afforded by open resources.

From the participant feedback it was very clear that there is a strong interest in continuing to learn more about how OER can be used to support education in ways that allow access, re-use and sharing. Future events are planned at KPU to build upon the ideas generated in this session. 

About the author

Diane J. Salter, PhD. 

Vice Provost Teaching and Learning Kwantlen Polytechnic University

INstitute for INnovation and Scholarship in Teaching and Learning (INSTL)