Introduction

Ryerson Open Moments describes the journeys of eight educators who discovered open education through projects in which they developed open educational resources. Each of these stories recounts a different journey towards open and what open education has come to mean for each of our storytellers. These stories vary based on their original goals, their experiences of teaching, and the types of projects they pursued.

The educators are the authors of this book. Our goal with this project was to learn from them about the meaning of their journeys and to share these experiences for others just starting out with open education. All the projects described were funded by eCampusOntario grants. Most projects took almost two years to complete, although some were finished in as little as six months. The projects reflect the range of forms that open educational resources can take from textbooks to video to online games. Each project involved a team, some as large as 20, and included students, staff, educators, animators, illustrators, editors, librarians, instructional designers, educational developers, videographers, and programmers. The dedication to student learning and access is evident in every story. Participation in the creation of these stories is a reflection of the commitment our authors have to learning, to sharing, and to open.

Ryerson Open Moments is inspired by Rajiv Jhangiani and Robin DeRosa’s Open Pedagogy Notebook and Terry Greene’s Open Faculty Patchbook. Our goal was to extend their projects with this book. Each chapter is developed from an interview and then edited in collaboration with the storyteller. The chapters build on the questions Jhangiani and DeRosa have posed: What are your hopes for…higher education? …How do you see the roles of the learner and the teacher? What challenges do your students face… and how does your pedagogy address them?” (DeRosa & Jhangiani)^[1]. The research project was approved by Ryerson’s Research Ethics Board.

Our interest as investigators in this project was to understand how participating in the creation of open educational resources affects an educator’s understanding of open education. As participants in these projects, we hoped to learn more about the educator journey towards open to smooth the path and continue to increase availability of OER.

_{Disclaimer: Ryerson University logos and the Ryerson University name are trademarks of Ryerson University, registered in Canada and other countries, and are excluded from Creative Commons licensing. Outside of the context of this resource, they cannot be reused and distributed by non-authorized users, without the permission of Ryerson University.} 

_{Image credit: Lock by Adrien Coquet from the Noun Project, CC-BY.}