Open Learning News and Updates

Understanding Business: An OER for Today’s Evolving Business Context

A Fresh Open Educational Resource for Intro to Business Courses  

In the fall term of 2025, all Intro to Business students at Conestoga are using a new textbook designed and developed just for them. Unlike traditional paid textbooks, Understanding Business is an open educational resource (OER), which means it is entirely free for students and will remain available to them long after their course is finished.  
 

Foundation Based in Quality, Updated for Today 

Understanding Business is a newly adapted OER built on a 10+ year foundation of quality. School of Business faculty member Anela Tomac and the Open Learning team created this new Conestoga OER by adapting the recently published Business Foundations by Kerri Shields at Centennial College. Sheilds created her OER by building off the 2018 Fundamentals of Business: Canadian Edition published by Ontario college faculty and the ongoing work of Virginia Tech University’s Fundamentals of Business OER, first published in 2016 and now in its fourth edition.  

Kerri Shields upgraded the Canadian adaptation of this OER (which is also one of the most successful OER in the province) by combining and extending open content into a more expansive educational tool for Introduction to Business courses. Shields also added several important new chapters on information, risk management, and business success to keep the material relevant and useful in today’s ever-changing global business environment. 

“Since 2018, the field of business has changed tremendously due to advances in technology, shifting consumer patterns, and increased focus on ethics and sustainability," explains Shields. “Furthermore, students are learning in a different way today - more with interactive material and digital tools. It was important to update the material to reflect the changes and accommodate different learning preferences.” 

Customized for Use in the Real World 

“A lot has changed in the world since 2018,” agrees Anela Tomac, which is why she and the crew from Open Learning sought to replace the popular Canadian edition OER this year. Because they could iterate on Shields’  work, they were able to focus their efforts on creating a resource specifically geared to Conestoga students in just six months.  

“We included stories from Conestoga alumni and our professional networks to make the resource more specific and relevant to our courses,” explains Tomac. “We also added case studies to make the material more up-to-date and useful, as well as more engaging chapter reviews.” 

What Makes This Edition Special  

• Timely Relevance: New content reflects modern data and trends in entrepreneurship, marketing, management, personal finance, sustainability, ethics, information and risk management.   
• Real Situations, Real Impact: This collection demonstrates the theory-to-practice relation through testimonials from professional networks and alumni of Conestoga.  
• Better Learning Experience: More engaging (and downloadable) chapter summaries and current cases that represent the business realities of today.    
• Aligned with the course: Simplified to be in alignment with specific learning objectives and assessments, while still being flexible to fit a variety of teaching needs. 

The Power of Open Education 

Without the six-month effort to create this new OER, Conestoga business students would have had to pay for a more recent publisher’s textbook. Tomac explains that “our students have now saved thousands of dollars from using this text.”  

But this project also demonstrates the impact open educational resources can have when subject matter experts iterate and collaborate quickly and freely. “Working with other authors and educators is really important because as we work together and share openly, we are able to create a better resource,” Tomac says. 

Shields also highlights the equity aspect of OER work in general: “Publishing with an open license guarantees all students equitable access to high-quality educational materials, irrespective of their financial status and also allows instructors to adapt the content to fit the needs of the diverse classroom experiences.” 

Ready for Your Class 

This resource, designed with adaptability in mind and openly licensed for remixing, reuse, and localization, has been developed to meet the varying needs of today's introductory business courses while ensuring relevant content and access for students, all at no cost. Confirmed instructors may also access a test bank and solutions for the case studies. 

Ready to explore?  

Access Understanding Business today