Halifax, NS - The Council of Atlantic Academic Libraries (CAAL-CBPA) is pleased to announce the first recipients of the newly launched AtlanticOER Development Grants.  AtlanticOER Development Grants (@AtlanticOER) are intended to encourage and support educators in the Atlantic Region in the adaptation, adoption, creation, and curation of open educational resources (OER), and to increase access to course materials for students.  Each grant is for up to $2,000 and is awarded to individuals, departments, groups, or institutions in the Atlantic Provinces to help achieve the following objectives:

• Support the creation or adaptation of open textbooks and ancillary materials, such as PowerPoint slides, quiz banks, images, and other digital study or interactive aids;
• Create a variety of OERs developed for use by educators and students in credit-bearing courses;
• Establish supportive events for the development of content for OERs, such as sprints (a collaborative in-person or virtual event to create or adapt an open textbook or ancillary resources); or
• Distribute funds to maximize direct benefit to a wide range of student learners and inquiry across a diversity of disciplines

The 2022 AtlanticOER Development Grant recipients are:

Project: The goal of this project is to create an open textbook to replace the existing Pearson textbook and to optimize the student learning experience by involving a student in creation, testing, and usability.

Other Team Members: Meghan Landry, Scholarly Communications Librarian, St. Francis Xavier University
Courses: PHYS 121/122: Physics for the Physical Sciences and Engineering I/II

Julie Crouse, Faculty, Nova Scotia Community College

Project: This project is focused on developing ancillary content (such as slide decks, H5P quizzes, and images) to support the use of the existing OER textbook, Exploring substance use in Canada.

Other Team Members: NSCC Copyright Office
Course: SOCS 2024: Introduction to Addictions

Dr. Alexandra Tsedryk, Associate Professor, Mount Saint Vincent University

Project: The goal of this event is to adapt the existing OER text, Liberté, into an OER that will support four French language courses in the Modern Languages Department at Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU). As part of the process, the text will be updated to include Canadian references and perspectives and to make the text more useful and applicable to MSVU students.

Other Team Members: Dr. François-Xavier Eygun, Professor, Modern Languages Department; Dr. Larry Steele, Associate Professor, Modern Languages Department; Dr. Juliette Valcke, Associate Professor, Modern Languages Department; Emily Ballantyne, Educational Developer, Teacher and Learning Centre; Lindsay McCallum, Librarian, Archives and Scholarly Communications & Liaison for the Humanities; Erin Chapman, Instructional Designer, Teaching and Learning Centre; Michael McGuire, Instructional Developer, Teaching and Learning Centre

Courses: FREN 1101: Basic Practical French; FREN 1102: Basic Practical French 2: FREN 2201: Practical French; and FREN 2202: Practical French 2

Dr. Erin Mazerolle, Assistant Professor, Saint Francis Xavier University

Project: This project aims to improve inclusivity, accessibility, and relevance of an open educational resource used for an introductory psychology and neuroscience course and to educate undergraduate students on important concepts related to equity, diversity, and inclusivity.
Other Team Members: Erin Austen, Hackathon Co-Organizer, St. Francis Xavier University; Jesse Husk, Faculty Advisor, St. Francis Xavier University; Leanne Fraser, Faculty Advisor, Dalhousie University
Courses: PSYO 1011/1031 & PSYO 1012/1032: Introduction to Psychology I & II

Jeannie Bail, Liaison Librarian, University of New Brunswick

Project: This project is focused on increasing the reach of the Business Information Skills Certificate (BISC) resource by adapting it as open textbook and populating it with redeveloped H5P quizzes, videos, and ancillary materials such as teaching slides and/or an interactive glossary.

Other Team Members: Lizabeth Lemon-Mitchell, Director, Faculty Advancement and Operations, & Instructor, Faculty of Management, University of New Brunswick; Emily Clark, Instructional Designer, Teaching and Learning Services, University of New Brunswick; Leanne Wells, Retired Business Librarian, UNB Libraries; Sally Armstrong, Research Specialist, Senior Associate, PwC Canada

Course: ADM 1165: Business Communications I

For more information, contact:

Cynthia Holt
CAAL-CBPA Executive Director
execdir@caul-cbua.ca
(902) 830-6467

AtlanticOER-RELAtlantique is funded by CAAL-CBPA