Curating Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources (OER)

Open educational resources (OER) are free and openly licensed educational materials that can be used for teaching, learning, research, and other purposes. — Creative Commons

Open Education “…is the simple and powerful idea that the world’s knowledge is a public good and that technology in general and the Web in particular provide an extraordinary opportunity for everyone to share, use, and reuse knowledge.”
—The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

 

Video by Open Washington: Open Educational Resources Network (http://www.openwa.org/)

The U.S. Department of Education’s #GoOpen Campaign (see also #goopen) encourages schools and states to invest in openly licensed educational materials to transform teaching and learning.

Spend some time at OER Commons (https://www.oercommons.org/) to discover resources you might use. Realize the power of OER is not just that they are free to use but licensing under Creative Commons allows for re-mixing, re-using, and re-purposing of individuals’ creations.

The Creative Commons copyright licenses and tools forge a balance inside the traditional “all rights reserved” setting that copyright law creates. Our tools give everyone from individual creators to large companies and institutions a simple, standardized way to grant copyright permissions to their creative work. The combination of our tools and our users is a vast and growing digital commons, a pool of content that can be copied, distributed, edited, remixed, and built upon, all within the boundaries of copyright law. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/)

Watch this video for more information on Creative Commons and fair use guidelines:

 

The process of selecting, organizing, and sharing OER, though, is critical for teachers to master.

Collecting vs. Curating

We have all collected web-based resources by bookmarking in a browser to be able to visit them later. This is collecting — saving something for our own use and enjoyment. Curating is a bit different. When we curate, we are thinking critically about resources, considering how they can be used in a specific context, and purposefully sharing them with others. Annette Clancy  explains “Collection is additive. Curation is subtractive. Collecting is for yourself, curating is for others.” Nancy White shares a chart illustrating the differences between these two activities:

 

“A curator is an expert learner. Instead of dispensing knowledge, he creates spaces in which knowledge can be created, explored, and connected.” (Siemens, 2007).

Types of Curation Tools

Social Bookmarking – You probably already keep bookmarks of your favorite websites to go back to whenever you might need them. Social bookmarking takes it a couple of steps further, allowing you to access your bookmarks from any internet-enabled device, organize resources in a searchable manner by tagging, and share your bookmarks with individuals and groups who share your interests. In this course, you are getting to know the social bookmarking tool Diigo well, as we are posting, tagging, and sharing resources with our EDTC 3123 group. In the Resources section of this chapter, there are links to more social bookmarking tools you might like to try.

OER Commons  –  OER Commons offers a digital library and network of resources curated by educators.

Standards Connector – A Standards Connector is a collection of digital resources that is specifically organized based on a set of standards.

Types of Websites

Archival and Primary Source websites – A type of educational website that provides original historical materials for students to access and analyze.

• Example: National Archives http://www.archives.gov/education/
• More to Explore: Kathy Schrock’s Guide To Everything: Primary Sources http://www.schrockguide.net/primary-sources.html

Collaboration websites – Communicate and collaborate with others around the world in order to create students who are competitive and globally-minded

Educational websites – A source of Internet-based digital content, often designed with K-12 learning goals in mind.

• Example: National Geographic Kids http://kids.nationalgeographic.com
• More to Explore: Internet Public Library http://ipl.org/div/subject/ An index of educational websites selected and evaluated by educators and librarians.

Exploration and Discovery websites – A type of educational website that allows students to engage in online explorations of topics of interest.

• Example: Exploratorium http://exploratorium.edu/
• More to Explore: Discovery Education http://www.discoveryeducation.com/ Now offers digital textbooks along with their other educational content.

Lesson Plan websites – A type of educational website featuring lesson plans and related teaching materials.

• Example: Read Write Think http://www.readwritethink.org/
• More to Explore: Curriki http://www.curriki.org

Real–time and Recorded Data websites – A type of educational website that presents scientific data for students to access and analyze.

• Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education http://ciese.org/realtimedatasites.html

Skills/Practice websites – A type of educational website that provides basic learning activities for students.

• Example: Starfall http://starfall.com
• More to Explore: Purpose Games http://www.purposegames.com/

Student–to–Experts websites – A type of educational website that supports exchanges of information between students and adult experts in organizations outside of school.

• Example: Ask Dr. Math http://mathforum.org/dr.math/

Virtual Field Trip websites – Online learning adventures where students are able to visit far-away places using their classroom computers.

• Example: TripLine http://www.tripline.net/: Create a virtual map of different areas of the world and explain them. This is a good resource for History and Literature classes.
• More to Explore:  Smithsonian Museum of Natural History http://www.mnh.si.edu/vtp/1-desktop/
• Google’s Field Trip App https://www.fieldtripper.com/
• Google Cultural Institute–Discover exhibits and collections from museums and archives all around the world. Explore cultural treasures in extraordinary detail, from hidden gems to masterpieces.  https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home
• How to Create Your Own Virtual Tour on Google Earth http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-create-your-own-virtual-tour-on-google-earth-with-a-kml-file/

ISTE-T Standards

2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

• Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the ISTE·S.
  • Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
  • Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
  • Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
  • Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments aligned with content and technology standards and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching

3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning

• Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society.
  • Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations

Key Terms

bookmarking
interactive video conferencing
social bookmarking

Resources

Social Bookmarking and Standards Connectors

TES Teach with Blendspace https://www.blendspace.com/
LiveBinders http://livebinders.com Organize your favorites into “binders” with tabs and sub-tabs and share or embed those binders.
Pinterest http://pinterest.com Pinterest is a site where you can “pin” (or collect) photos you find on the internet. The photos link to the webpage or blog post where the photo is located, so you can read more about it.
Standards Toolbox https://edshelf.com/tool/standards-toolbox/
Symbaloo http://symbaloo.com Is a highly customizable graphic page with “tiles” creating a “webmix.” Share your webmix or use those others have put together.

Learning or Classroom Management Systems

Collaborize Classroom http://technologiesforteaching.weebly.com/collaborize-classroom.html Complements classroom instruction and engage students in online activities, assignments and discussions that allow for deeper participation inside and outside the classroom.
Coursesites https://edshelf.com/tool/coursesites/ Online course creation and facilitation service that empowers individual K–12 teachers, college and university instructors and community educators to add a web–based component to their courses, or even host an entire course on the Internet.
Rcampus http://www.rcampus.com/Comprehensive Education Management System and a collaborative learning environment.
Class Dojo http://www.classdojo.com/about A classroom management system that digitally tracks students’ behavior using avatars and by giving/taking points.

This resource is no cost at https://open.library.okstate.edu/applicationsofeducationaltechnology/