Scaling up OER: Creating a Sustainable Program at a Polytechnic Institution
Jessica Norman
At SAIT, OER is part of the education plan in the institutional mandate, specifically on pg. 17. When the policy supports the actual work, the basic questions of how that
work is actually going to happen, is provided by the specific information within the documentation. Individuals have a clear
directive
At SAIT, as at other polytechnics across the country, the IP is owned by the institution. When this occurs, the issues around ownership
are not the same as they are at a university.
When the institution states that they support OER in policy and practice, you can go from
saying no, to saying yes!
Once policy in place, a strategic plan helps to provide the
larger framework, answers ‘how’ this happens. We need to remember however, that open does not equal free and the documentation needs to assign $$ to this work in order to maintain sustainability for this project (time to
create resource, technology required, maintenance, etc.). Infrastructure is required for things like an institutional
repository.
Lessons Learned:
- Start with high enrollment courses
- Start with schools with existing OERs
- Start an advisory committee, include students
- Add OER language to things that folks are already doing
- Roadshows and listening tours
- Start tracking statistics immediately, and collect more than you think you will need
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