Open Educational Resources

Open pedagogy engages students as creators of information rather than simply consumers of it. It is a form of experiential learning where students demonstrate understanding through creation. Part of open pedagogy is open assignments, where students create openly licensed materials that have an impact beyond the classroom and into the greater community.

Open assignments are also called renewable assignments because they are designed to be reused and revisited by more than just the student and their instructor. Renewable assignments contrast with traditional, ‘disposable’ assignments that usually are thrown away or deleted after being graded. Disposable assignments include things like essays or multiple-choice exams.

1. Assignment Examples on Open Pedagogy Notebook
   • Each blog post is an example of an open assignment. Spend some time reading different posts to find examples you are interested in.
2. Open Education Group (2017-2018) Renewable Assignments | Website
   • The list is organized by discipline, but feel free to explore assignments in subjects other than your own. Remember, these assignments can be adapted to meet a courses’ specific needs!
3. Open Pedagogy Examples of Class Activities (UBC)
   • This article has examples of open assignments sprinkled throughout. You’ll have to do a bit more digging to find the examples (ie. read the article), but it also gives a nice overview of what an open assignment is. 
4. Open Pedagogy Examples | Bcampus Google Doc List
   • A Google doc that lists open assignments in the middle column (under Open (Resources & Approaches)).
   • Each assignment has a link you can follow for more information. 
5. The Non-Disposable Assignment: Enhancing Personalized Learning | Website
   • Various individual blog posts that include examples of open assignments. 
6. Design with Open Educational Resource (DOER) Project 2017-2018 Renewable Assignments for Psychology
   • Document with examples of creating webpages, test banks, and other open educational resources.
7. Open Education Group: OER Enabled Pedagogy
   • Webpage organized by type of open assignment, each with links to examples.

1. Create an open textbook, which would be used as the new textbook for the course (and be freely available to all future students). Examples of open textbooks created by students and faculty: 
   • Project Management for Instructional Designers by Wiley, et al.
   • Chemistry LibreText – one of the largest non-disposable assignments through a collaboration of students and faculty doing a non-disposable assignment. Resulted in multiple open textbooks and open learning objects brought together under one website. 
   • The Open Anthology of Earlier American Literature by Robin DeRosa
2. Create a learning object. Learning objects could be PowerPoint presentations, activities, videos, pictures, study materials, worksheets, and more. Examples: 
   • From Consumer to creator: Students as producers of content | Simon Bates’ Class Creating learning objects (PDF) - UBC, Physics
   • Chemistry LibreText - Ancillary Resources
   • Student-Created Group Genetics Worksheet
3. Create or edit a Wikipedia entry. Examples: 
   • "Murder, Madness, and Mayhem: Latin American Literature in Translation" - UBC, Spanish
4. Create lab assignments/in-class activities; OR Create exam/test questions.
   • Why have students answer questions when they can write them?
   • Students create activities or assessment as part of their course work, but the instructor can reuse/adapt the best ones for the class the following year. After 2-4 semesters, the instructor has a full set of activities or lab assignments that have been created by students for students.
5. Create H5P assessments – H5P is a free, interactive web-based tool to create activities. Examples: 
   • H5P - Examples & Downloads 
6. Create case studies. Examples:
   • LifeLines OnLine 2002 Summer Faculty Workshop 
7. Creating infographics on a topic that can be displayed in the hallways. Examples: 
   • Wiseman and Percy (multiple examples – scroll down the Google doc)
8. Creating video stories
9. Creating a manual or guide
10. Projects that benefit the greater community. By working on a project and then openly licensing it and publishing it online, it can benefit the greater community. Examples: 
    • Design a User Flow for Accessibility 
    • Redesign Materials for Universal Accessibility
11. Create blog posts and websites:
    • DOER Fellowship Deliverable (multiple examples – scroll down the Google doc)