Brian Forrest

Professor, Pure Mathematics

My OER projects
Brian Forrest

These are my resources for two courses on the Foundations of Calculus I teach in the MMT program: 
Foundations of Calculus 1 for Teachers
Foundations of Calculus 2 for Teachers
 

What prompted you to become involved in OER?

I have always been sensitive to the cost of educational materials for students. All of my courses have free course notes and I never require a textbook. When I became involved in building online courses OER was a natural way to proceed.

What excites you most about your OER project?

I have been involved in the development of a number of fully online asynchronous courses. Developing OER material for these courses is a core part of the design process.

A lot of instructors are hesitant about OER. Do you share those hesitations? How do you address them?

There is a need to monitor quality control. Not all OER material is appropriate. In addition, OER material can be used in a variety of ways. It can be core content or supplemental material so like a textbook an instructor has the freedom to inject their own viewpoint into a course even while using OER content.

Can other instructors interested in OER reach out to you?

Yes, at beforres@uwaterloo.ca.