Canada: BC: Provincial Government's Online Program Development Fund
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Policy Title: Canada: BC: Provincial Government's Online Program Development Fund (OPDF) - Go to the policy
Author(s): BC Campus
Description: For ten years BCcampus administered an online program development fund (OPDF). Recognizing that the B.C. post-secondary system exists in a world where change is a constant factor and the ability to adapt and respond in a technology-immersive environment is a 21st century skill, in 2012-13 the OPDF was re-purposed into Canada’s first publicly-funded open textbook development project.
All BCcampus OPDF-funded projects produce Open Education Resources that are available for free sharing and reuse among educators within B.C.’s public post secondary system. As projects complete their development cycle, they are licensed for sharing and uploaded to the BCcampus Shareable Online Learning Resources repository (SOL*R). SOL*R has a search engine that enables you to search for resources by field of study, subject area, contributing institution and other attributes. The Advanced Search feature of SOL*R lets you search by OPDF Log# to find resources associated with a specific project.
From 2003-2011 $10 million was granted by the BC Provincial Government towards the Online Program Development Fund (OPDF). The main outcomes were:
- 153 grants awarded.
- 100% participation across the post-secondary system.
- 84% partnerships – mostly inter-institutional but also with K-12, health authorities, not-for-profits, professional associations, e-learning companies, First Nations, and foundations, amongst others.
- 48 credentials developed in whole or part.
- 362 courses, 12 workshops, 20 web sites/tools and 425 course components (learning objects, labs, textbooks, manuals, videos) developed across almost all academic fields of study.
- 100% licensed for open free sharing & reuse by post-secondary institutions.
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