Growing BC's online learning is one of our goals at BCcampus. Starting in 2003 we've issued an annual Online Program Development Fund (OPDF) Request for Proposals (RFP) to all of BC's public post secondary institutions. The OPDF call for proposals emphasizes inter-institutional collaboration and partnerships for development of online learning resources. Development is focused on giving students access to more programs that will help them complete degrees, diplomas and certificates.

Since 2003, the Online Program Development Fund has invested $9 million. The main outcomes to date are:

• 144 grants awarded (2003-2010)
• 100% participation across the post-secondary system
• 83% partnerships - mostly inter-institutional but also with K-12, health authorities, not-for-profits, professional associations, e-learning companies, First Nations, foundations, amongst others.
• 47 credentials developed in whole or part via OPDF
• 355 courses, 12 workshops, 19 web sites/tools and 396 course components (learning objects, labs, textbooks, manuals, videos) developed across almost all academic fields of study
• 100% licensed for open free sharing & reuse by all post-secondary

The OPDF is supported by annual Advanced Education and Labour Market Development government funding.

All BCcampus Online Program Development Fund projects produce Open Education Resources that are available for free sharing and reuse among educators within BC’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.

Once projects receive an OPDF award they go through a development cycle that typically takes 12 to 18 months. Resources from recently funded projects will not be found in SOL*R until development is complete.

All developed resources are digital, intended for 100% online delivery primarily through course management systems including Moodle, Blackboard, and Desire2Learn. While developed for 100% online uses, resources are used to support blended and face-to-face delivery too.

Through the OPDF online learning resources are becoming pervasive across a broad spectrum of academic fields of study and subject areas. Development of academic online learning resources is focused on areas of high student demand and/or provincial, regional, or local labour market need. Large development clusters are happening in Business Management, Liberal Arts & Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences, and Visual Performing and Fine Arts.

Online learning resources are being developed not just for the theory components of courses but for complete courses including the lab portion of science courses and the studio portion of art courses.

The Online Program Development Fund has led to the development and availability of numerous complete credentials including degrees, diplomas and certificates. These online programs broaden academic reach and enable participation of students all across BC.

Complete credentials were developed through the OPDF in three ways:

1. A single round of funding allowed for development of all the courses required for a complete credential.
2. A complete credential was built out gradually through multiple rounds of funding.
3. OPDF provided funding needed for development of the last few courses required to make the complete credential online.

Many credentials are currently partially built out with plans to complete development through subsequent rounds of funding.

All BC public post secondary institutions participate in the Online Program Development Fund. In addition, the Online Program Development Fund stimulates extensive inter-institutional collaboration. The vast majority of development is done collaboratively, involving two or more institutions. While BC post secondary institutions are the lead developers for all OPDF initiatives, many projects have outside partners including associations, non-profit groups, societies, school districts, First Nation groups, federal government agencies, private sector companies, and higher education institutions outside of BC. The contributions of these partners are significant and their participation broadens the reach and benefits of OPDF development activities across sectors and beyond.

As online learning becomes more and more pervasive, it is increasingly important to complement online learning development and delivery with educator professional development resources on how to effectively do so. Educator professional learning OPDF projects are helping build this capacity in BC’s public post secondary system. Development activities in this area are increasingly being led by grassroots groups of educators who have formed special interest groups for educational technology and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Participants in these grassroot organizations come from all BC public post secondary institutions with an interest in networking and tapping into expertise and best practices across the whole post secondary system.

If you would like further information on the OPDF, please contact Paul Stacey.

Paul Stacey

Director, Communications, Stakeholder and Academic Relations
604-412-7736
pstacey [at] bccampus [dot] ca