Open education is an approach to teaching and learning that removes barriers, promotes collaboration, and empowers both students and educators to freely access, adapt, and share knowledge. At its core, it’s about making education more accessible, effective, and equitable for everyone.

Why Open Education Matters

As an educator, you want your teaching to be effective and meaningful for your students. Open education offers a powerful pathway to enhance that effectiveness while addressing some of the most pressing challenges in higher education today.

The benefits for you

• Improve student success and engagement by ensuring all students have access to materials from day one, regardless of their financial situation
• Increase student engagement through collaborative, real-world learning
• Gain flexibility to adapt materials to your specific course needs and teaching style
• Enhance your professional visibility and connect with a global community of educators
• Align your teaching with your values of accessibility, equity, and innovation

The benefits for your students

• Access to course materials from day one (no waiting for financial aid or delayed textbook purchases)
• Learning experiences that connect to real-world applications and authentic audiences
• Opportunities to contribute meaningfully to knowledge creation
• Development of digital literacy and collaboration skills valued by employers

Why Now

Open education isn’t just an idealistic movement—it’s a practical response to current educational challenges, particularly here in British Columbia.

The Funding Reality in BC and Canada

Canada’s post-secondary system is experiencing unprecedented financial pressures as colleges and universities grapple with budget shortfalls exacerbated by restrictions on international students, domestic tuition caps, and stagnant provincial funding (CBC News, 2024). In BC specifically, provincial funding for institutions has fallen dramatically over three decades—from about 80 per cent of schools’ budgets to below 50 per cent, with tuition fees now making up more than 50% of general operating revenue (CBC News, 2024). This represents a fundamental shift in how higher education is funded.

Open education helps by reducing student costs through free OER while giving faculty flexibility to adapt materials without expensive licensing restrictions.

Enrollment Challenges

Canadian higher education faces complex enrollment pressures that threaten institutional sustainability. College enrollments have declined by 13.6% nationally and now sit at their lowest level since 2003, with domestic enrollments at colleges down particularly sharply (Higher Education Strategy Associates, 2024). The pattern varies by region, but the overall trend shows declining domestic participation. Federal restrictions on international students have intensified pressure on university finances, with international student enrollments projected to be down 45-54% at many institutions (Global News, 2024). These enrollment challenges create financial stress that affects program availability and student services.

Open practices can help attract and retain students by creating more engaging, relevant learning experiences while reducing financial barriers that prevent enrollment.

Student Financial Pressures

Financial stress among Canadian students has reached crisis levels, creating significant barriers to academic success. In BC, tuition fees collected by institutions represented only 34% compared to provincial funding in 2000-01; by 2020-21, tuition fees reached 95% compared to the funding provided by operating grants (BC Federation of Students, 2023). This shift of costs to students has severe consequences: nearly 29% of Canadian post-secondary students experience food insecurity, significantly higher than the national average (University of Saskatchewan, 2024). 30-40% of students across Canada experience food insecurity, with some campus-based studies showing over half of students affected (Frank et al., 2023; Meal Exchange, 2022). This financial stress creates substantial barriers to academic participation and success, with students skipping meals, working multiple jobs, and struggling to afford basic necessities.

By eliminating textbook costs and creating more flexible learning pathways, open education directly reduces student financial stress and removes barriers to academic participation.

Future Skills and Employer Demands

Canada faces significant skills gaps that higher education must address to meet evolving employer needs. BC’s government forecasts over a million job openings over the next decade, with over 80% requiring some level of post-secondary education (BC Federation of Students, 2023). According to Li et al. (2023) in a report for the Future Skills Centre, while digitisation has been a long-term trend, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted major acceleration in digital skills requirements across all sectors. Importantly, employers seek hybrid skills that combine digital literacy with collaboration, communication, and project management capabilities (Li et al., 2023).

Open pedagogical practices naturally develop these in-demand skills—when students create open content, collaborate on real projects, and engage with authentic audiences, they’re practising the professional competencies they’ll need in their careers.

Post-Pandemic Educational Transformation

The rapid shift to online and hybrid learning during COVID-19 has fundamentally transformed higher education delivery and expectations. This transformation extends beyond emergency responses to strategic, long-term changes in how education is delivered. 98.1% of Canadian universities now provide accredited distance learning, with 87% offering hybrid courses (Wotto, 2020). The pandemic highlighted both the potential and challenges of flexible delivery, revealing the need for more engaging, interactive approaches that maintain connection and community (Brennan et al., 2021). Institutions are innovating and diversifying teaching methods to provide high-quality instruction through multiple modalities.

Open resources and practices provide the adaptability needed for flexible delivery while open pedagogies foster the engagement that online learning often lacks.

Institutional Priorities and Innovation Opportunities

Despite budget pressures, Canadian institutions increasingly recognise open education’s role in student success, retention, and institutional reputation. Universities performed $17 billion in research and development in 2023, demonstrating significant capacity for innovation (Universities Canada, 2024). However, with declining traditional enrollments and financial pressures, institutions need innovative approaches that enhance quality while managing costs.

Open practices offer ways to enhance quality while managing costs, and BC institutions like BCcampus are leading national conversations about innovative teaching and learning approaches.

Your Open Education Learning Journey

This workbook is built around three foundations of open education:

Open Educational Resources (OER): Free, openly licensed educational materials that can be retained, reused, revised, remixed, and redistributed.

Open Pedagogy: Teaching practices that emphasise student agency, collaboration, and public engagement, often involving students as co-creators of knowledge.

Open Scholarship: Transparent research and publishing practices, including open access publication and collaborative research methods.

These three foundations are united by core principles that make education more accessible, effective, and equitable, which we will be exploring in this section:

• Accessible Education: How open practices remove barriers and create inclusive learning environments for all students
• Effective Education: How open approaches deepen engagement and enhance learning through student agency and authentic experiences
• Equitable Education: How open education addresses systemic inequities and empowers diverse voices

Open education is not an all-or-nothing proposition. It’s a journey of continuous improvement, experimentation, and reflection. The goal isn’t to completely transform your teaching overnight, but to identify meaningful ways that open practices can enhance what you’re already doing well while addressing challenges you’ve been facing.

As UNESCO (2015) states: “education is a public good, a fundamental human right and a basis for guaranteeing the realisation of other rights. It is essential for peace, tolerance, human fulfilment and sustainable development.”

Open education supports this vision by making learning more accessible, effective, and equitable.

Common Concerns and Clarifications

Despite its growing adoption, open education is often misunderstood. This isn’t surprising—the term “open” can be vague, some organisations engage in “openwashing” by claiming to be open without meeting true openness criteria, and much of the conversation has focused on cost savings rather than pedagogical benefits. Additionally, the rapid pace of change in educational technology and the varying quality of some openly available resources have led to reasonable scepticism.

Let’s address the concerns faculty typically have when first encountering open education:

“I don’t have time to learn completely new approaches.”

You can start small with one open practice that builds on what you’re already doing well. Many faculty begin by simply replacing one expensive textbook with a free, high-quality OER.

This workbook is designed to guide you through starting small—you’ll identify specific, manageable steps that fit your current teaching practice and timeline.

“Will open education be valued in my discipline?”

Open education is increasingly recognised across all disciplines in teaching awards, tenure processes, and scholarly communities. It demonstrates innovation, public engagement, and student-centred practice—qualities valued in academic evaluation regardless of discipline.

Throughout this workbook, you’ll explore how open practices align with your existing professional values and how to articulate their impact in ways that resonate within your discipline.

“This sounds like giving up control of my classroom.”

Open education is about sharing power thoughtfully, not losing control. You still design the learning experience and guide students—but with more transparency, collaboration, and student input.

The sections ahead will show you specific examples of how faculty maintain their expertise and authority while creating more collaborative and engaging learning environments.

Openwashing: Recognising True Openness

As open education has gained popularity, some organisations engage in “openwashing”—claiming to be “open” without meeting the criteria of true openness. This can happen across all areas:

In Resources: A textbook may be free to access but not openly licensed for reuse or adaptation, or may require registration that creates barriers.

In Pedagogy: A course may claim to use open pedagogy but still rely on closed, top-down teaching methods without genuine student agency.

In Scholarship: A journal may advertise open access but charge prohibitive fees or restrict how content can be used.

To identify genuine openness, look for:

• Clear, open licenses (e.g., Creative Commons) that specify permissions
• Transparent practices that genuinely allow reuse, adaptation, and sharing
• Authentic opportunities for collaboration and participation
• Accessible formats and platforms that don’t create new barriers

Reflective Activity

Moving Forward

Open education provides a powerful framework for creating learning environments that are more accessible, effective, and equitable. Understanding these foundational principles—how open practices remove barriers, deepen engagement, and promote inclusion—will guide your exploration of specific tools and practices throughout this professional development experience.

The principles you’ve been introduced to here aren’t abstract ideals—they’re practical approaches that can enhance what you’re already doing well while addressing challenges you’ve been facing in your teaching. As you move through the following sections, you’ll see how these principles come to life through Open Educational Resources, open pedagogical practices, and transparent scholarly work.

Remember that this is a journey of continuous improvement and experimentation. Every small step toward more open practices—whether it’s adopting a free textbook, providing students with more choice, or sharing your teaching materials with colleagues—contributes to creating more empowering educational experiences for all learners.

Next, we’ll explore how open practices can make education more accessible for all learners.

References

BC Federation of Students. (2023, February 28). Budget 2023 leaves students disappointed: More investments in post-secondary funding needed. British Columbia Federation of Students. https://www.wearebcstudents.ca/budget_2023

Brennan, J., Deer, F., Desai Trilokekar, R., Findlay, L., Foster, K., Laforest, G., Wheelahan, L., Wright, J. M. (2021). Investing in a Better Future: Higher Education and Post-COVID Canada [PDF]. Royal Society of Canada. https://rsc-src.ca/sites/default/files/Higher%20ED%20PB_EN_1.pdf

CBC News. (2024, November 25). Canada’s post-secondary industry predicts a storm ahead, as budget cuts shrink courses, staff. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/post-secondary-cuts-1.7387175

Frank, L., Andrée, T., Hernandez, T., Neilson, C., Vaillancourt, C., & Almuhtaseb, H. (2023). Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of food insecurity among post-secondary students and non-students of similar age in Canada. BMC Public Health, 23, 1018. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15756-y

Global News. (2024, September 9). International student enrolment down 45 per cent, Universities Canada says. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/10738537/universities-canada-international-student-enrolment-drop/

Higher Education Strategy Associates. (2024, September 4). The state of postsecondary education in Canada, 2024. HESA. https://higheredstrategy.com/the-state-of-postsecondary-education-in-canada-2024/

Li, V., Hamza, M., & Kwok, T. (2023, November). The skills algorithm: Digital skills demand across Canada’s labour market. Future Skills Centre. https://fsc-ccf.ca/projects/skills-algorithm-digital-demand-across-canadas-labour-market/

Meal Exchange. (2022, May 31). Accessibility and affordability: The status of student food insecurity in Canada. The Sandbox Project. https://sandboxproject.ca/2022-5-31-accessibility-and-affordability-the-status-of-student-food-insecurity-in-canada/

UNESCO. (2015). Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4 [PDF]. UNESCO Publishing. https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/education-2030-incheon-framework-for-action-implementation-of-sdg4-2016-en_2.pdf

Universities Canada. (2024, September 10). Facts and stats. Universities Canada. https://univcan.ca/universities/facts-and-stats/

University of Saskatchewan. (2024). Current state of food insecurity in Canada — Students. University of Saskatchewan Student Resources. https://students.usask.ca/articles/food-security.php

Wotto, M. (2020). The future high education distance learning in Canada, the United States, and France: Insights from before COVID-19 secondary data analysis. SAGE Open, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239520940624