My OER project
I'm currently working on a fully online version of CS 116.
What prompted you to become involved in OER?
I first became involved with OER in the early 2010s as a graduate student with an exam bank project. Students were paying money for solutions that were inaccurate, didn't use techniques actually taught in courses and overall were not of good quality. We produced a wiki currently with over 3200 fully solved problems with hints and solutions all out of volunteer work. This spurred me to continue creating resources that students could use in their studies.
What excites you most about your OER project?
I'm currently working on a fully online version of CS 116, our second course in our first year programming sequence and student's first course using an imperative programming language. We hope to have the online version of CS 116 live soon using the openEdX platform.
A lot of instructors are hesitant about OER. Do you share those hesitations? How do you address them?
As I develop more OER than I use, I don't share this same hesitation. So long as sources are being shared and changes can be made to suit one's need, OERs can save an instructor time and can allow them to customize their courses in ways they see fit. Best thing to do is to check out some of the hard work going on in your community to see some great resources on display.
Can other instructors interested in OER reach out to you?
Yes, at cbruni@uwaterloo.ca.
