Hi all,

I would certainly be on board with this! It would be fantastic to see a national initiative in this area, and I would throw anything at it to make that happen.

There is a massive impediment to it though, as with any national level higher ed project, and that is where to pitch it because there is not a natural home for this ask within the federal government. Without a ministry, it is very hard to get government to care about it, especially since it is in an area that is a provincial mandate and with the provinces clearly not happy with the feds right now. I don't want to pour cold water on the idea, but want to be realistic about the uphill battle it would be to even get noticed, let alone a commitment to resources.

Having said that, I think there are elements that could possibly fit within these departments:

Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (probably the closest bet)
Employment and Social Development (a long shot, but ESD administers student loans so maybe)
Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism (another long shot, but could be targeted campaign around the things they care about - have to be creative here)
Treasury Board and Ministry of Digital Government (yes, we have one of those)

Open Government - would need to be creative and it doesn't directly have a ministerial portfolio attached (but falls under the above's purview), so less likely to get funding, but Canada is the OGP chair this year, and has committed to the Open by default approach (which has recently filtered into things like procurement of software as well), so may be able to leverage this, plus the tri-council open requirements.

At the provincial level, anywhere we have a conservative government, as in my own province of Ontario, is going to be a blocker to this for a number of reasons. With that in mind though, conservative governments are making higher ed less accessible to their constituents, more expensive if you do manage to get in, and generally disinvesting in this file, so there is an opportunity to hammer the alternative parties to be the opposite.

So I think it will be a tough sell, but absolutely worthwhile trying.

Cheers

Nick

We have moved!

The Office of Open Learning has moved to the CEI as of Monday, 26 August. We apologise for any delay in getting back to you as we settle in and look forward to welcoming you in our new offices!

Prof. Nick Baker
Director
Office of Open Learning
Room CEI-2241

Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation
(entrance at 700 California Ave)

University of Windsor
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Windsor, Ontario
N9B 3P4
(519) 253-3000 ext. 4925
fax (519) 971-3693
www.uwindsor.ca/openlearning

Twitter: @nbaker

The University of Windsor is built on the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations, which includes the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomie. As a settler here, I acknowledge and thank the traditional custodians of the land for their wisdom and connection to this place.

From: Canadaoer <canadaoer-bounces@mail.bccampus.ca> on behalf of Amanda Coolidge <acoolidge@bccampus.ca>
Sent: November 1, 2019 2:30 PM
To: Michael McNally <mmcnally@ualberta.ca>; Canada OER <canadaoer@mail.bccampus.ca>
Subject: Re: [Canadaoer] National OER Advocacy for the Next Federal Election

Yes let’s do it!! How do we proceed?

Amanda Coolidge, MEd [she/her]

Associate Director of Open Education, BCcampus

Cell: 250 818 4592 • Email: acoolidge@bccampus.ca

Twitter: @acoolidge • LinkedIn: amandacoolidge

Learning. Doing. Leading.

BCcampus.ca • @BCcampus • #BCcampus

For thousands of years the səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish), W̱SÁNEĆ, and the Songhees Nation of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) Peoples have walked gently on the unceded territories where we now live, work, and play. We are committed to building relationships with the first peoples here, one based in honour and respect, and we thank them for their hospitality.

From: Canadaoer <canadaoer-bounces@mail.bccampus.ca> on behalf of Michael McNally <mmcnally@ualberta.ca>
Date: Thursday, October 31, 2019 at 5:06 PM
To: Canada OER <canadaoer@mail.bccampus.ca>
Subject: [Canadaoer] National OER Advocacy for the Next Federal Election

Dear Canada OER Community,

I was reflecting on the fact that we recently went through a federal election campaign where affordability was a central concern for seemingly every party, even to the point of floating vague promises (e.g. wireless mobile cost reductions with little specifics on how this would be practically achieved). Specifically, the NDP noted post-secondary affordability as a key issue, but its focus was more on tuition and grants, and it appeared, to the best of my knowledge, silent on textbook costs.

Many parties also seemed relatively unconcerned about making expenditure promises if they figured they would garner votes. Couple these with the fact we are likely looking at a shorter time frame to the next election (most saying 18 to 24 months) and that every party will be looking to improve on their performance from earlier in the month, and I was wondering if there was interest in trying to get OER funding on to any of the federal party's radar (with the hope that given it is a relatively non-partisan issue, that if one party were to propose OER funding others may simply adopt it).

I think there might be a variety of approaches/strategies to pursue to get OER funding, but thought I would see if there was some collective interest in pursuing this.

Michael

Michael B. McNally,
Associate Professor, Faculty of Education (School of Library and Information Studies)
5-171 Education North, University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta CANADA T6G 2J4
mmcnally@ualberta.ca
Phone: 780-492-3934
Fax: 780-492-2430