DS4OERS WS/COP/Ontario open rangers



eCampusOntario is a non-profit organisation in Canada, funded by provincial government to lead a consortium of Ontario's publicly-funded colleges, universities, and indigenous institutes to advance the use of educational technology and digital learning.

eCampusOntario started a successful community of practice to advance open education in the province, through a network of 'Open Rangers'. The Open Ranger initiative was instrumental in drawing attention to the good work of individuals at the provincial level.

In this section, we will summarise the initiative to see if there are lessons or ideas we can learn from for teachers wanting to promote open education in the Pacific region. Bearing in mind that the concept of 'Ranger' may not be familiar in our context, we begin with a brief description of concepts.

Background to the open education initiative at eCampusOntario
In 2016, eCampusOntario's New Program Development Fund announced the 'Open Content Initiative' and posted the first call for the creation and adaptation of Open Educational Resources funding 24 projects. In 2017, the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities announced a $1 million investment to support the development of Open Educational Resources at Ontario colleges and universities. As of 2021, the Open Library Initiative at eCampusOntario reports student savings of over $12 million as a result of OER being used to replace closed proprietary resources.

The eCampusOntario 'Open Ranger' initiative
Facilitating engagement and adoption of OER across institutions in Ontario Canada was supported by the establishment of the 'Open Ranger' community of practice.

Following the investment of government funding for OER in the province, eCampusOntario hosted the first Open Education Ontario Summit in 2017. Participation in the summit was limited to 100 seats.

Prospective attendees were encouraged to submit an application outlining why Open Education matters in their work, and were also invited to provide an idea for an Open Education project they wanted to see within their respective institutions prior to participating in the summit. The summit was designed to encourage collaboration and innovation around the concepts of Open.

A stated outcome of the Open Education Ontario Summit was to create a passionate, dedicated community that would support the use of OER in classrooms across Ontario. The summit was used to support the first group of 'Open Rangers' to develop Open Education initiatives, both within their work and their educational institutions.

A second summit was organised in 2018, inviting a second cohort of individuals to apply to attend the summit and join the Ontario Open Rangers. These 'Rising Open Rangers' were provided the oppotunity to work closely with the more experienced Open Rangers from the first cohort.

Co-ordinated centrally by eCampusOntario, the 'Open Ranger' group of individuals used a number of tools, strategies, and approaches to support uptake of OER, including:


 * A dedicated e-mail list and digital messaging platform for Open Rangers
 * A dedicated 'Open Ranger' web page, used to share examples of good practice
 * Design sprints to develop promotional material and resources to support the work of 'Open Rangers' at their respective institutions. (For example, Posters summarising the Creative Commons licenses, re-usable slideshow presentations with speaker notes, etc.)