York University Libraries (YUL) Advancing SDG 4

Launch of first faculty survey on Open Education Resources

The Open Education Steering Committee (co-created by YUL) is a campus-wide committee that has been created to engage in broad stakeholder campus discussions on open education, open educational resources, open educational practices, and open pedagogy. 

In 2022, the working groups of the Open Education Steering Committee (OESC), (Communications, Guidelines and Policy Working Group), launched a survey to inform the OESC's development of programs and resources to support faculty with OER implementation.

The broad adoption of OER would support reducing financial barriers for students, while improving the overall academic experience. The survey was also designed to inform pathways to advance innovative open education supports and teaching practices, including an inventory of campus activities in this space as well as professional development opportunities. Results from the survey showed that 68 per cent of respondents (from a total of 121 respondents) reported using OER in their classes and faculty were much more likely to select Google and YouTube as paths to find OER. Despite the high adoption numbers among respondents, there was a lack of awareness around best practices for searching for and finding OER. Nearly all respondents indicated they would find OER through Google and YouTube searches, despite the existence of curated OER repositories like eCampus Ontario’s Open Library, and OER Commons.  

30 percent of respondents were creating OER aligned with SDGs.

—OER Survey Report

Leading Expertise on Open Education and Open Access

YUL at the 2022 National Open Educational Resources Summit on Infrastructure and Policy

In November 2022, York U Libraries helped lead The National Open Educational Resources (OER) Summit on Infrastructure and Policy 2022. The Summit was organized by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries’ Open Education Working Group (CARL OEWG) and brought together key open education advocates from across Canada at York University. The two-day working session focused on developing advocacy strategies for OER infrastructure at the federal level. Participants included representatives from key stakeholder groups across the country such as Universities Canada, Colleges and Institutes Canada, CARL, Campus Books Canada, Canadian Federation of Students, Student Union Etudiante, eCampusOntario and BCCampus. Currently, the CARL OEWG is facilitating follow-up conversations with summit attendees to support ongoing action in the advocacy arena. YUL’s leadership are supporting various groups in refining federal advocacy strategies and ultimately, implementing them with other national partners.  

2021 Panel Event “Perspectives on Openness: Honouring Indigenous Ways of Knowing” on Oct. 20

FOR ACADEMIC LIBRARIES, the path to reconciliation with Indigenous communities and research and scholarship are interconnected with Indigenous research and scholarship and our programs and services offered by the libraries. In 2021 at a panel event, Indigenous Ways of Knowing, several York University librarians, archivists and library staff explored how libraries should consider the ownership, control, access and possession of Indigenous information and data during a professional development series. Project leads Norda Bell, an associate librarian, and Rosa Orlandini, a data services librarian, challenged participants to reflect on their responsibilities in creating respectful relationships with Indigenous communities individually and collectively.

York University Libraries created and launched an Indigenous Action Plan and formed a working group with representation across all library departments to address gaps that exist in reaching and supporting Indigenous students and scholars. 

The plan identifies and seeks to address systemic issues within the library structures that marginalize Indigenous Ways of Knowing. The plan aligns with the University’s Indigenous Framework, supports the York University Libraries Strategic Plan and guides York University Libraries in addressing the needs of the Indigenous community while putting in place reciprocal supports to build our awareness of Indigenous Ways of Knowing.

From March 9 to 13, 2020, YUL hosted the Shades of our Sisters exhibit, which challenged visitors to understand the breadth and depth of the loss of Indigenous women, girls, Trans and Two-Spirited Peoples in Canada.

• La Casita Azul partners with local primary schools providing direct support of literacy programs, computer literacy, and environmental education, and has hosted six in-class visits and outings discussing literacy in addition to providing weekly access to technology, curriculum, and leisure resources.

• Through the La Casita Azul project, activities focused on environmental education and sustainability are offered throughout the year that provide preschool-age children with an awareness and appreciation of the local eco-system.

• Throughout the year La Casita Azul offers workshops and courses to local community members, including youth and adults, to supplement and support their academic skills, holding weekly  English conversation classes for children under 15 years old.

• La Casita Azul has run multiple workshops and courses for community members with the goal of developing foundational literacy skills.

• Several educational materials have been developed by students participating in York's Las Nubes project in support of environmental education and education for sustainable development in Southern Costa Rica. Some of these have been implemented by local schools or have been used by community members and La Casita Azul has demonstrably enhanced the mobilization of these researcher projects.

• La Casita Azul has made available information about starting small businesses (booklet), as well as environmental education for kindergarten kids (lesson plans and manipulatives).