The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization describes “Open Educational Resources (OER) as “learning, teaching, and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under the copyright that has been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation, and redistribution by others” (UNESCO, 2019:5).

Image copied from https://libguides.federation.edu.au/oer

The OER movement seeks to enhance educational quality and democratize knowledge, to make resources accessible to all learners, to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (SDG 4). OER are not limited to learning content but also include digital tools and other intellectual property that can be used in any context. One key feature of OER is the flexible nature of the materials created, which makes them adaptable to specific needs or contexts.

Image copied from https://libguides.federation.edu.au/oer

As an educator and emerging researcher, I have been privileged to utilize several OERs for my personal development. These resources basically help to increase access to learning and are sometimes used to address issues of cost of textbooks, quality/up-to-date information, and equity, especially for people living in economically disadvantaged communities or those with lower socioeconomic status. A typical example of an OER that I have always used is the PhET interactive simulations, which are provided under the Creative Commons Attribution (CCA). The PhET simulations can be used for teaching science and mathematics across all age groups. One of the reasons I love using PhET interactive simulations is that it bridges issues around lack of laboratory equipment, which tend to hinder students from engaging in experimental activities. More importantly is the fact that the PhET platform is easily accessible online at no cost. It also helps to promote student engagement and enhance teacher’s pedagogy.

The use of open educational resources where teachers are able to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute materials has opened up more possibilities for teachers’ collaboration on innovative educational practices, resulting in what is referred to as OER-enabled pedagogy (OEP). OEP has been shown to increase how teachers network and collaborate and stimulate reflection on their teaching practices while also creating opportunities to access high-quality, digital teaching materials (Arispe et al., 2023; Wiley & Hilton, 2018). Using OERs becomes valuable, particularly in contexts where resources are lacking or outdated and curricula/course materials are dependent upon decisions imposed by school districts or states. The value of OERs for students with access to them lies in their ability to help students prepare for a topic or lesson in advance, thereby facilitating the learning process, saving instructional time, promoting personalized learning, and potentially improving grades.

Based on the internationally agreed documents led by multilateral organizations like UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), many countries now support the development of OER as a way to provide high-quality learning materials to students and provide primary and secondary education for all while making higher education more affordable (Kanwar, 2015). One particular thing I have noticed is that most of the available OERs seem to be generated more from industrialized/developed countries as compared to developing countries. However, there are claims that a lack of funding opportunities, understanding of copyright, and open licensing could be a potential roadblock to OER development. Another challenge to the adoption of OER could be associated with the fact that many teachers don’t know how to find, use, or create OER effectively, which limits their ability to integrate these resources into their teaching practices. There are schools that lack access to technological resources like internet facilities and IT experts, which can discourage teachers from adopting  OER in their classrooms. I could remember visiting a school that had projectors and computers in the science laboratory but did not have access to the internet or data connectivity. Unfortunately, the school management indicated insufficient funding as a hinderance to teachers use of those resources. Inasmuch as OERs are beneficial, I know that not all students can access these resources, and this can further widen the issue of the digital divide causing educational inequalities. During the class discussion, colleagues mentioned how some teachers are always hesitant to share their materials, and this can also frustrate teachers from adopting OERs.

Reflecting on how OERs can be improved, I think this could include promoting teachers and students to work together in creating OERs, as well as encouraging a collaborative practice among teachers where they are able to share their resources with one another. I also think creating awareness on the benefits of sharing resources within a community of practice could be instrumental in how the use of OERs can be improved.

• I remember colleagues talking about teachers making money by selling their resources online. How do you think this can be used in improving the development and adoption of OERs?
• I would also love to know how you are using OER in your classroom as an educator.
• What role do you think educational stakeholders play in the development and adoption of open educational resources?

References

Arispe, K., Hoye, A., & Palmer, K. (2023). The impact of open educational resource professional development for teachers in secondary education. Open Praxis, 15(4), 303-313.

Kanwar, A. (2015). Open Education Resources: What, why, how? Available at Commonwealth of Learning Newsletter

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (2019). Recommendation on Open Educational Resources. Available at Legal Affairs/OER

Wiley, D., & Hilton Iii, J. L. (2018). Defining OER-enabled pedagogy. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 19(4).

These past few weeks have been an amazing one as we all explored how to create H5P content. Reflecting on the various types of H5P content I came across, I can say that H5P content offers numerous benefits in educational settings, enhancing both teaching and learning experiences. As an interactive content creation tool, H5P facilitates the development of engaging materials that promote active learning, improve student engagement, and support diverse learning styles. While developing my H5P content, I realized that they can help students to self-assess their understanding through interactive features, which help clarify concepts and reinforce learning, and the feedback mechanisms within H5P activities allow students to track their progress and identify areas for improvement (Rahmi et al., 2024; Sharmin et al., 2023).

However, I struggled a bit before I could merge different types of H5P activities into my video. I think teachers need to be adequately trained on how to develop H5P contents for effective implementation in their teaching practice.

Integrating H5P interactive videos, quizzes, and drag-and-drop activities into lesson content can help improve student motivation and participation. Here is a link to my Interactive video and below is a sample of what my interaction module looks like .

The interactive module and other learning resources have also been integrated into the LMS I am using for teaching this course. Here is the link to my course shell: Basicshell: Google Classroom. Here is what my Google Classroom looks like.

You can check under the classwork section for the course introduction, course overview, and all other resources (power point slide, interactive videos, assessments) that students will use in the first module. I am still busy developing the second module,

References

Rahmi, U., Fajri, B. R., & Azrul, A. (2024). Effectiveness of interactive content with H5P for Moodle-learning management system in blended learning. Journal of Learning for Development, 11(1), 66-81.

Sharmin, N., Pandya, J., Stevenson, T. R., & Chow, A. K. (2023). Interactive learning content to supplement didactic lectures in dental education. Journal of Dental Education, 88(Suppl 3), 1758.

‘Remixing is tasty’ (Gideon Burton, https://www.flickr.com/ photos/ wakingtiger/ 3156791341, CC BY SA 2.0)

Remixing is the art of copying, adapting, transforming, reorganizing, and/or remaking existing materials to produce something new (Katz, 2024). The process of remixing empowers one to be creative and enhance how they reuse existing materials.

In education, teachers and students depend on several instructional materials to help improve the teaching and learning process. The principle of remixing in education emphasizes the adaptation and integration of existing ideas to enhance curriculum design, pedagogy, and assessment. This allows teachers to modify existing curriculum by engaging in borrowing, adapting, and merging concepts and /or ideas from various sources, including technology, to meet diverse student needs, create innovative learning experiences, and enhance learning outcomes (Meidi Meidi, 2011).  This implies that teachers gather information from multiple resources and adopt or adapt it to their classroom context.

Remixing materials can provide teachers and students with opportunities to access resources without limitations while expanding their applicability, trying to align their teaching with the needs of students and promoting inclusivity (Swancutt et al., 2020). The principles of remixing in an educational context can also help improve students’ ability to navigate, modify, and ethically use digital resources. In addition, it can challenge students to find innovative solutions by remixing and iterating on ideas. In terms of pedagogy, teachers can use their pedagogical content knowledge to critique and possibly adapt their instructional strategies to ensure that the lessons or content they intend to teach are contextually relevant for their students. When teaching, teachers can adapt various techniques and resources they came across from other sources to scaffold teaching and learning activities in their classroom context. Through the use of various scaffolding techniques, teachers can better understand how their instructional modifications and adaptations influence learning, which can, in turn, lead to a more unified approach between how the curriculum is planned and its final implementation in the classroom.

Purple Illustrative: How to Boost Engagement on Social Media Poster by ayodele emehinola

Conversely, while adaptation is essential for meeting diverse needs, it can also lead to inconsistencies in curriculum delivery if not aligned with overarching educational standards. This highlights the need for ongoing professional development and support for teachers in their adaptation efforts.

Remixing assessment practices could involve adjusting assessment policies, documents, contents, and components to align with current real-world educational tools and practices. This could include how teachers repurpose the use of technology to assess how students tell stories, carry out scientific investigations, and develop new artifacts based on existing ideas. It could also include using digital platforms to give students the same worksheets that would have been done traditionally. Doing this will not only assess the students’ subject matter knowledge but also how they navigate the online platform, share ideas or resources online, and all that. However, I believe that how teachers remix educational materials might depend on factors like educational policies, personal beliefs, and possible collaborative frameworks that support teacher adaptation.

The practice of remixing in education is increasingly relevant with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), which offers tools for educators to reproduce instructional materials and content effectively. Studies have shown how the use of AI teachers can remix established curriculum by incorporating AI tools to support diverse learning needs, particularly in special education contexts (McMahon & Firestone, 2024). Using AI tools to remix learning content has actually promoted the creation of adaptive learning systems that help teachers tailor educational content to individual student needs (Sumartono et al., 2025). Using AI tools has also encouraged collaboration to refine assessment methods, contents, and learning outcomes among teachers.

Benefits of adaptive learning (Image from Anand Choudhary)

To reiterate an argument from the video “Remix is the art of copying”, however, the act of copying has always been stigmatized in education and often associated with negative connotations like plagiarism. However, the use of advanced learning technologies like AI, simulations, coding, and robotics platforms seems to promote more of the process of copying, debugging, and re-creating ideas. Thus, copying can serve as a valuable learning tool, particularly in programming and design contexts.

I think the issue of copying can be right and wrong depending on the context in which it been practiced. In a programming context, it can be used as a constructive tool to help students understand complex concepts. In design thinking, it could enhance creativity and innovation if properly modified to create something new. Nevertheless, I think there is a need for more education or guidelines on the various ways copying can be done correctly and constructively in the form of remixing and incorrectly in forms that can be connoted as wrong intent or academic dishonesty. Remixing can be seen as a legitimate form of creativity and innovation, fostering collaboration rather than discouraging it.

References

Lin, H. & Fishman, B. (2009). Scaffolding teacher adaptation by making design intent explicit. In Dimitracopoulou, A., O’Malley, C., Suthers, D., & Reimann, P. (Eds.), Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Practices: CSCL2009 Community Events Proceedings (pp. 159-161). Rhodes, Greece: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Meidl, T., & Meidl, C. (2011). Curriculum integration and adaptation: Individualizing pedagogy for linguistically and culturally diverse students. Current Issues in Education, 14(1).

Swancutt, L., Medhurst, M., Poed, S., & Walker, P. (2020). Making adjustments to curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. In Inclusive education for the 21st century (pp. 208-243). Routledge.

My course module is strictly an online one. As a result, content delivery will be done by giving students pre-recorded videos of basic concepts before the class. Students will be assigned a self-paced quiz based on the pre-recorded lesson. This will then be followed by live online sessions for discussions and questions and answers, as well as the presentation of slides and notes to students for personal reading or revision. Within the course, I plan to use various interactive formative assessments that include statement questions, single-choice, multiple-choice, and fill-in-the-gap methods of assessment. Students will also label body planes in interactive diagrams.

During the live online sessions, I plan to ask real-time questions using polls via Zoom at the beginning of the lesson to check for students’ understanding. As the online session proceeds, students will be assigned to break-out rooms for further discussion with peers on specific activities. Towards the end of the lesson, students will be given reflection questions in the discussion board.

Students will also engage in open-ended questions that require class members to give their views on answers given in the class. At the end of the lesson, additional interactive activities, assignments, and quizzes will be given to students.

Watching the documentary on the story of Amanda Todd made me reflect on a lot of things. I remembered a discussion we had in one of the classes I took in the fall, when somebody had indicated that back in those days, we had children who sometimes engaged in awkward and awful things, and they were able to get away with it. But in the era of technology, it appears that whatever you do and post online always has a way of coming back to you if you are not careful.

I think this is my second time hearing the word Sextortion which the dictionary describes as the practice of extorting money or sexual favors from someone by threatening to reveal evidence of their sexual activity. However, from the definition, I realized that this is not something new or something I am oblivious to. Watching the documentaries  Sextortion of Amanda Todd and Stalking Amanda Todd: The Man in the Shadows shows that this absurd practice of sextortion is becoming more rampant due to social media and online platforms that provide a conducive environment for perpetrators to exploit their potential victims. This is a global online crime that can have tragic consequences, including suicide, long-term trauma, cutting, social isolation, and depression. The anonymity and accessibility of online platforms, including social media and some dating apps, make it easier for perpetrators of this heinous act to initiate schemes often targeted at vulnerable individuals, including teenagers, youth, and members of sexual minority groups who can be easily coerced or exploited.

The ongoing report around the use of online platforms and social media for these heinous acts is alarming. For example, the National Crime Agency (NCA) UK reported a higher percentage increase in sextortion reports between 2017 and 2020. In addition, the organization indicated that cases reported to the “US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) were more than doubled in 2023, rising to 26,718 compared to 10,731 the year before”. The statistical profile of online child sexual exploitation incidents reported in Canada shows a devastating increase in issues related to child pornography. The Internet Watch Foundation also notes that images of child sexual abuse created through sextortion are a significant and growing problem.

Reflecting on all these alarming reports around the dangers of social media and online platforms, especially with regards to sextortion, I feel many of the victims might not be equipped to recognize and respond to concerns around the use of online platforms for some personal and private information due to a lack of awareness and support. One possible way to address this issue among teenagers and vulnerable victims will be to create more awareness and teach various elements of the digital citizenship framework. According to Mike Ribble Digital citizenship is not only about teaching the use of digital tools but also equipping students with knowledge, skills, and practices for guided and safe participation in online space. The Digital Citizenship Education in Saskatchewan Schools and Digital Citizenship Continuum from K–12 serves as a guide that teachers can use to address the dangers associated with the use of social media in the classroom. So, I think teachers can use these guides to promote responsible online behaviour and awareness among students. By integrating digital citizenship education, schools can equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate the digital landscape safely.

Digital citizenship image captured from agpartseducation.com

There are various resources and lesson plans from common sense education that teachers can use to create engaging activities that highlight the consequences of sharing personal information online, cyberbullying, deep fakes and fake information, use of AI, etc. Looking at the digital framework continuum, I think teachers can also engage students in discussions around the importance of understanding how to communicate and protect oneself in digital spaces. Teachers can also use case studies that allow students to explore scenarios in real-life situations and how to ethically engage in such circumstances. More importantly, I think teachers need to create a safe and supportive learning environment that can make students open up as they learn and engage in activities related to the negative use of social media. I also think having parents awareness programs on the daunting effect of social media on children could go a long way in how parents can help their children outside school. Regardless of the approach used to teach elements of digital citizenship in the classroom, I think this should be done continuously or probably be part of the curriculum so that its importance is reiterated and students can become acquainted with these safe practices.

I know there are cases where some students might still want to explore some gray areas on the use of technology despite warnings, awareness, and teaching. What would you do as a teacher in this regard?

According to Jenkin’s theory of participation (2006), participatory culture is defined “as a way in which different people or the society act both as consumers and contributors of meaning and further play a major role in shaping content”. Research shows that people traditionally created and produced their own content before the 19th century. However, the evolution of social media around the 19^th century brought about a drastic change in how information is shared and consumed. Looking at the pervasive use of social media platforms in today’s world, participatory culture could refer to a social environment where individuals actively engage in creating, sharing, and collaborating on content, often facilitated by digital platforms. This culture contrasts with traditional media models, promoting democratic participation and collective intelligence.

The use of social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and many others has actually reshaped how knowledge is translated and disseminated in education.  In the book History of Intellectual Culture, the authors explained how participatory culture allows diverse voices to contribute to knowledge, challenging traditional hierarchies in education. The authors further argued that The World Wide Web, in particular, has helped to make knowledge “promiscuous, and Wikipedia grows by leaps while research faculty in traditional humanities disciplines remain ambivalent about technological changes. I remember back in my secondary and university days when we only depended on what the teachers handed over to us in the classroom and recommended textbooks. However, this has changed over time as people can easily turn to YouTube for several videos to enhance whatever they have been taught in the classroom.

I have also realized that most educational content and knowledge shared on social media platforms are sourced from several origins and I see this as a great way of providing a more dynamic understanding of the learning process to individuals. I came across a digital textbook on Teaching and Creating with Generative AI around last year. The book was produced as a result of work submitted by students registered in an EdTech program at the University of Saskatchewan. I think this book exemplifies how the participatory culture in that program gave students the opportunity to collaborate among themselves and come up with ideas that were translated into open educational resources that are useful for people navigating that space of AI strategies and applications that can be used for teaching. I think this participatory culture can help teachers integrate new media tools into the curriculum they teach, and this could possibly help improve teacher’s strategies for teaching certain topics or subjects.

https://robe1481.medium.com/social-media-participatory-culture-4e05752ccbf5

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In the article Participatory Culture and Open Educational Resources, the author explains how social media encourages the sharing of resources, enhancing accessibility and fostering a community of learners who contribute to and benefit from collective knowledge; and can also be used as open educational resources to respond to the youth culture based on openness, on social connections, and on networking. Engaging in participatory culture could also be another way of helping students cultivate foundational skills needed to thrive in a digital environment, more like equipping them with digital citizenship skills.

I have learnt a lot through YouTube, and I think the participatory culture on this platform has to do with the ability of experienced people or experts to provide guidance for novices. This could foster a sense of belonging to novices. So, I can say the impact of collaborative culture through social media on education is profound, as it fosters collaborative learning, which caters for diverse educational experiences and enhances student engagement and knowledge construction.