Kwantlen Polytechnic University Pressbooks homapge

Supercharged OER at Kwantlen Polytechnic University

ByElizabeth Mays

Kwantlen Polytechnic University was the first Canadian institution to launch a zero-textbook-cost program. To support its growing open education efforts, KPU adopted Pressbooks to help faculty create and share custom learning materials. Today, faculty use Pressbooks to build contextualized, interactive, and collaborative textbooks that empower both instructors and students.

The Challenge: Scaling Open Education and Pedagogical Innovation

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) has long been at the forefront of open education in Canada. As the first institution in the country to launch a zero-textbook-cost (ZTC) program in 2017, KPU aimed to reduce student costs and expand access to learning. But as interest in open pedagogy grew, so did the need for infrastructure that could support large-scale creation, adaptation, and adoption of open educational resources (OER).

Faculty across disciplines were eager to create custom learning materials—ones that reflected their subject expertise, teaching goals, and the lived experiences of their diverse student body. KPU needed a publishing platform that could support collaborative workflows, interactive content, and course-level customization at scale.

Meet Rajiv Jhangiani
A longtime leader in the global OER movement, Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani is a faculty member in KPU’s Department of Psychology and currently serves as Special Advisor to the Provost on Open Education. He was instrumental in KPU’s 2017 launch of Canada’s first “Zed Cred” program, offering entire credentials with zero textbook costs. Rajiv is also co-editor of Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science and an outspoken advocate for open pedagogy and global access to education.

The Solution: A Scalable, Author-Friendly Publishing Platform

KPU adopted a hosted Pressbooks Enterprise Network to serve as the foundation for its open publishing initiatives. Pressbooks gave faculty a user-friendly, web-based environment to create, customize, and share open educational resources. This also allowed KPU control over the network and the branding of their own open textbook catalog, and instilled confidence that the system is routinely maintained, optimized, and up-to-date with the latest features.

The platform supported critical features such as interactive elements via H5P, language support (such as Punjabi scripts), built-in accessibility, and export options for web, print, and digital use. The ability to take Pressbooks exports and easily and affordably create print-on-demand versions was crucial. KPU has its own print-on-demand wing, a partnership between the bookstore and the print shop. KPU’s bookstore manager is a member of the Open Education Working Group.

OER creation on Pressbooks is just one piece of KPU’s overarching open publishing suite of tools and services, OPUS, which also includes assistance with Open Journal Systems, Zed Cred preparation, and embedding open content in courses. Grants are available for faculty wanting to create or adapt a textbook. So far efforts have been split evenly between the two, but Rajiv says he expects to see more adaptation in the future.

“Once I learned about Pressbooks’ existence, it became the default tool,” Rajiv says

The Impact

KPU now boasts more than 300 courses with zero textbook costs–many of them utilizing open textbooks on a Pressbooks platform.

So far on KPU’s network they’ve built resources for the Learning Centre, such as books on learning to learn online, time management, and study skills. Some recent OER grant-funded projects include consumer behavior, ancient and medieval history, and mathematics adaptations.

More than that, open education has now become engrained in the culture at KPU and is central to the way they think about learning materials and student engagement.

“Open ed is part of the identity of the institution now”

Expert Tip: Unlocking the Power of Cloning


After making a “master” clone of each of these books onto their Pressbooks system and revising the text to localize its content, KPU can clone each book again multiple times, so that each instructor of these courses with multiple sections can make their own instructor-level customizations. For instance, instructors might want to rearrange the chapters to match the order they teach, add research examples from their department, or otherwise tailor the book to their teaching style.

Advice from the Field

Rajiv suggests the following strategy for early-stage OER initiatives:

  • Look at your bandwidth and pick two to three high-enrollment projects that you can really support, he says. Make sure you provide those projects with instructional design support and create high-quality books. Ensure they meet accessibility requirements and are designed with UDL principles and individual learning differences in mind. This will ensure the resources are well-thought-through and will be effective and useful for learners once you publish.
  • Leverage those as early wins.
  • Research, at your institution, is a big part of being able to do that. Evaluate and document the impact of adoption on course outcomes. Compare the cost and impact on course enrollment, persistence, and completion. Take a highlighter to the strategic plan and map your proposal to its tenets. Then, it will be easier to get people to say yes to a pilot.
  • How to keep those resources fresh? Conduct open pedagogy projects. Have students in future classes that are using the textbook update the stats, add H5P elements, and annotations. “Supercharge the basic book through the pedagogy piece and then it takes on a life of its own.”