The Business End of an OER

Flip a textbook over in a high school classroom and what do you see other than cheesy photos from the 1960's and book descriptions that try and flatter them? A barcode, and in some rare circumstances, a few numbers that result in sticker shock.

We've all experienced it by now. College textbooks and materials are no exception, costing students hundreds if not thousands of dollars out of pocket every semester only to have uncracked bindings to show for it when finals week is over.

And then what do you do when your life moves on and you become the educator responsible for maintaining the cost of your classroom materials? Suddenly those expenses multiply and your time to search for appropriate lesson material shortens.

Thankfully all hope is not lost in this expensive chaos. Enter the OERs, or "Open Educational Resources", to save the day. As discussed in the article link just provided, OERs have emerged as a viable and ready source of information in the classroom of today. Quite simply put, OER's refer to any resources made available at little to no cost that can be used for teaching, learning, or even research. Yes, this includes those pesky textbooks on occasion, but it also extends far beyond that in potential. Colleges have started making their curriculum, materials and even their faculties' PowerPoints publicly available for open use with little stipulation. (see number 2.)

This all leads up to what may be a veritable gold mine of information and resources made available for only the cost of your time and patience. I believe this is a wonderful resource to use as a starting block to filling in curricular planning and materials that have the potential to be a collaboration from many teachers and voices the world over.

However, caution must be exercised. (See number 5.) These open resources are just that: open. Any interested person may post materials into OER sources despite qualifications or knowledge. In addition, sources that are published by well-recognized individuals or institutions may not be kept current or checked for relevancy as time passes, even on well-maintained websites. It is a very good idea to approach the process of OER searching and addition as an optimistic, though cautious, endeavor.

That word of warning stated, though, OER's can come in as a most welcome variety of tools in the classroom when included wisely, for example:

The Glyfada Method - An OER that would provide my future students with help on how to formulate, get started, and write papers that otherwise they may have issues composing.

Introducing Copyright -An extremely important concept in the internet-savvy classroom. Introducing a book about copyright laws in the 21st century can be used to supplement a mini-unit about the fine line between art and infringement.

Writing Commons - A community for writers, this creative learning space is for students in courses that require college-level writing, and a creative, interactive space for teachers to share resources. A good collaboration resource for teachers and students alike.


SOURCE OF THE DAY:

10 Open Education Resources You May Not Know About - a good list of a variety of links to search engines focused specifically on OER resources. Give it a look!

Kansas Dept. Of Education - Just as the link says, this collection of OER's is directly maintained by the Dept of Education in Kansas. Many good links here on a variety of subjects.

The Incredible Art Department - One of my absolute favorite sites. Though not officially dubbed an OER website, that is exactly what this site provides for art teachers: a community of shared lesson plans by a variety of instructors and focuses. A must see for anyone writing a creative lesson plan.

Tuned to TeachingChannel

What makes a better resource than a video? A video made by teachers FOR teachers!

On TeachingChannel.com a very fleshed out world of helpful resource videos await both the budding teacher and well-versed teacher alike. As the very name of the website suggests, Teaching Channel's goal is not only to provide teacher-oriented videos, but to do so as a way of connection between peers and provide a way to share and grow in our own professional development, both for student and instructor benefit.

This website's missionis as clear and concise as you would wish it to be.

"With the help of the Tch community, our mission is to revolutionize how teachers learn, connect, and inspire each other to improve the outcomes for all K-12 students across America.

In order to accomplish this mission, we have three simple goals, all of them reliant on input from teachers:

• Build professional learning resources that teachers want

• Deepen and improve opportunities for teacher learning

• Elevate and celebrate teachers in our society

Our videos are produced by a unique team of professionals—a collaborative effort between video production experts, education advisors, and the classroom teachers themselves. We should point out that Teaching Channel does not determine or influence the content taught in our videos."

Launched in June 2011, TeachingChannel is a relatively new resource for teachers. This non-profit organization does a fantastic job of reaching across the curriculum and various subject matter on anything from improving your classroom strategies to new and innovative lessons and focus themes. It invites exemplary teachers to participate in its program, which happens in several different forums. Not only are they available as a resource online, many PBS stations throughout the country air an hour-long weekly program focused on the videos that they collect to share them more broadly.

This is a wonderful site for any level of skill you might have or want to improve, and certainly a reliable resource for those wishing to impart wisdom. Go TeachingChannel!



Source of the Day:

TeacherTube.com - Like YouTube for the school system, TeacherTube is a great place to start looking for videos as well as to post them. Though it is a little under-developed due to lack of publicity, this site does a great job of presenting a school-friendly version of its more widely-known cousin. Still, a great site to add to your bookmarked toolbox!

Flipped Learning Classrooms

With the increasing demand of expectations in the classroom the question of education today brings into light how best educators may progress and update their classrooms. A new idea being invoked is relatively revolutionary and is serving to turn the education world upside down. Flipped learning, as it is so appropriately referred to, takes the concept of the Bloom's Taxonomy's levels of learning and essentially turns their role in the classroom on their head. What once was the standard delivery in the classroom of memorization, understanding, and basic application has turned around to become the home study portion of the lesson. With current technology as an aide, a classroom instructor can how have the means to deliver the content of a lesson at home via videos or other applications and reserve the classroom time allotted for more guided, higher-level learning tasks that can be accomplished under direct guidance and encouragement. In such a way, teachers are slowly Flipping the Classroom.

Such a new idea has its pros and cons, of course. In such a discussion, this video showing teachers being introduced and re-introduced to the concept of Flipped Learning tends to voice some of the ultimate real-world applications and possible shortcomings of the new method being applied in education.

As is discussed by these practiced veterans, change can be hard to accept in the classroom, especially when routines and comfort zones are already well established in their own instructional methods. Students may not be able to be relied on to get the work done at home, or may not have the means to have technology available to them. Parents may discover concerns about them becoming the instructors, or worries that instructors may "make themselves irrelevant". Relying too heavily on the technology may become tiresome or monotonous to the students, quickly losing interest and drive to learn with the new method.

However, this method may just deliver far more bang for the buck. With instructor made videos, students would be able to learn at home at their own pace, able to rewind, pause, and watch over concepts that were unclear or missed the first time. This would also leave far more time for the instructor to go over the application of the material and the critically applied questions and creative thinking rather than leaving the focus on rote memorization and rapid-fire note-taking. Tests could be created online rather than on paper so that students could have instant access to their scores and teachers given a calculated grade immediately.

I do see benefits not just in general, but for my own future classroom as well. Supplemental materials and video lectures on art history can be used in conjunction with art projects in the classroom to give students time and experience with both. Tutorials for learning Photoshop processes and other art design programs can be recorded to help students move at their own pace, and SEE the process in step-by-step action (not to mention get more information out of the instructor speaking than reading written instructions). Lessons could be recorded for review later, so that if a student is ill or taken out of class they can catch up on material reviewed or demonstrations that were shown. The possibilities are only as endless as the creativity to used conjure them.

Source of the Day

 Let's further our reach in Flipped Learning, shall we?

1)  Self-Grading forms Using Google? - With a simple google document form, you can have your students submitting and self-grading their own test electronically, as well as receiving an email shortly afterward with their scores and having an on-hand evaluation of their success.

2) All-In-One Recorder - an all-in-one digital whiteboard and screen recorder from right on the web. Nice and convenient for when you have a projection screen and no whiteboard to help out!

3) Screencasting on your Iphone/Ipad - a neat link to show you that it's not just your computer that can give you a leg up. Try using one as a document camera!