The Integrating OER (Open Educational Resource) Program leads the Ontario postsecondary sector in the discovery, engagement, use, and continuous improvement of the VLS (Virtual Learning Strategy) Collection in eCampusOntario’s Open Library. Funded by the historic investment by the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU), the VLS Collection makes a wide variety of OER available to eligible Ontario educators and learners.
Integrating
OER Program
Help advance the quality of Open
Educational Resources in Ontario
What is the program?
The Integrating OER Program has three (3) streams of activity for eligible Ontario educators to integrate OER into their teaching, allowing them to easily improve the quality of their courses. Please review the full Participation Guide to understand about the program requirements in detail.
OER Adoption
Participate to receive support on evaluating, curating, and adapting OER for your teaching. Remuneration of $300 per adopted OER.
OER Peer Review
Participate to contribute to the continuous improvement of OER as a subject matter expert providing constructive feedback based on a set rubric. Remuneration of $300 per participant.
OER VLS Project Editor
For VLS project teams to participate to make edits based on the peer reviews. VLS project teams will receive an email invitation directly through their VLS project submission contacts. Remuneration of $750 per project team.
Upon completion, eCampusOntario will remunerate OER Adopters, OER Peer Reviewers, and OER Author VLS project teams in recognition of the team’s additional working time spent on improving the quality of the OER.
Supporting Resources
Contact
If you have any questions about this program, please contact the Open Library team at open@ecampusontario.ca
Get Involved: Apply Now
Use the forms below to get involved in the Program.
Apply to become a
Peer Reviewer
Reach out to open@ecampusontario.ca or rbhatia@ecampusontario.ca for more details
Apply to become
an OER Adopter
Assistance required in adopting the OER? Reach out to open@ecampusontario.ca rbhatia@ecampusontario.ca for one on one session.
Once your application has been reviewed and approved, you will receive an email
confirming your acceptance to participate.
View our Program Events
Watch OER events to find out more about the program and how you can be involved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who receives the stipend: the individual participant, or the institution?
eCampusOntario will disburse the stipend directly to the individual Participant who successfully enrolled and completed the process as per the requirements set out in the Participant Guide
Can I get access to the additional tools required to complete the program activities, such as an XR headset?
The Integrating OER program is not set up to accommodate the additional tools to review or adopt the resources. However, many institutional libraries have access to additional tools. You may also choose a different resource from our VLS Collection.
If I complete both Fall and Winter adoption reports, do I earn $600 or only $300? Is completing a report for only one or both terms an option?
The intention of the program is 1 disbursement per person per unique adoption. For example, Jenna McKay makes a single OER adoption in fall and receives $300.
If you use one unique resource in Fall term and then another unique resource in the Winter term, then you are eligible for $600. For example, Jenna McKay makes a single OER adoption in Fall and receives $300. Jenna McKay then makes a single adoption of a different OER in the Winter and receives $300 for the winter term. In this case, Jenna made 1 unique adoption in Fall ($300) and 1 unique adoption in Winter ($300) for a total of $600.
Please Note: There is no additional payment for reporting the same OER in Fall and then again in Winter. Adopters are welcome and encouraged to report future adoptions through our regular adoption reports as part of contributing to the Open Library’s work in advocacy and tracking efforts on the impact of OER, which is currently unfunded.
After peer reviewing an OER, can I adopt this same OER? Would I be eligible for reimbursement of $600? ($300 for the peer review, and $300 for the OER adoption.)
Yes, you can participate as peer reviewer and adopter for the same OER and get reimbursement of $600.
After peer reviewing an OER, can I adopt a different OER for the adoption process? Would I be eligible for reimbursement of $600? ($300 for the peer review, and $300 for the OER adoption.)
Yes, you can participate as peer reviewer and adopter for different OER and get reimbursement of $600.
Can I still enroll in this program even if my institution is involved in a project funded by the Second Round of funding from VLS? Would it be a conflict of interest?
The Integrating OER Program is focusing only on supporting the VLS Collection and is inviting individual faculty to apply to become involved. We will not be reviewing or rejecting faculty who participate in multiple programs.
I am an instructional designer working for an Ontario institution. Can I adopt an OER from the VLS Collection for the Fall or Winter term and submit the adoption report?
Yes, if you are working closely with faculty then you can fill in the adoption report. Please review the adoption report field to ensure you have access to all required information: https://openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca/share-an-adoption/