Let’s talk about Open Educational Resources. I had heard this educational buzzword before, but actually had no idea what I was in for with this topic… and now I’m left wondering where this has been all my life!
WHO KNEW that there were these huge repositories of free educational content out there sitting for us to build from? Why do most of the teachers I talk to have no idea this exists? Most importantly, how can we use this going forward to give our students a high-quality education without breaking the bank?
Once I had a moment to gather my thoughts, I took some time to sit down and look through some of the OERs that were provided to us in class to share these valuable resources with others. Since I was running PD last week on math, I figured that this was a great place to start:
CK12 Education
I took a closer look at this website because my main area of focus is in the middle years. I went into it with a curiosity about how to adapt and “remix” their textbooks to build something that works for me. Here is a video of what I found:
At first, I was pretty bummed that you can’t assign texts and readings to students on Edsby (…yet?) BUT I was very excited to see that I could download these textbooks as PDFs and can also print them for myself. For those teachers who like to have a physical copy of the textbook they are using, this is key.
Something else that I really liked about this (and all OERs) is the ability to copy and paste. When I’m trying to digitize or remix my teaching materials from textbooks, I spend a lot of time sitting and typing paragraphs while making sure to cite correctly to avoid any copyright laws. Here, I can copy and paste, change, and do whatever I need to align this to my teaching goal.
Next Step with CK12: I took some time to hunt down an applicable math text and lesson that one of our grade 7/8 teachers could use for her class. I went through it quickly and from here I plan to sit down with her and see if it would be helpful to her teaching!
Open Textbook Initiative: The American Institute of Mathematics
It only seems fitting that I took a look through this website as well. As a Facilitator with a focus on Math, I run into a lot of teachers who are dissatisfied with the math textbook options they are presented with. I know when I started teaching I ended up handwriting all of my lessons in a way that made the most sense to me and to my students… I spent many hours at the kitchen table after work building off of the MMS textbook and adapting it.
The first thing I noticed about this website is that all of the texts have been approved by an editorial board. This is evident once you start taking a look at the available texts.
The second thing I noticed is that many of these textbooks seem to be written for high school and beyond. The closest I found to elementary was this free textbook called Mathematics for Elementary Teachers which seems to be geared toward pre-service mathematics teachers. It could be a good spot to grab sample equations and ideas:
https://pressbooks-dev.oer.hawaii.edu/math111/chapter/operations-on-decimals/
In Closing…
All in all, I’m hoping that this idea continues to grow and that we can see more resources coming out for middle years and elementary students. It looks like we have an abundance of things for our older learners, but I would argue that they need a solid base to get them to that level and that it’s extremely important resources continue to be developed for our younger students.
I’m curious, what have you found to be helpful in your classroom?
I have to say that I had the same feeling as you. I had no idea what I was getting into with OER’s, I have never really heard anyone talk about them. Ironically my kids have been using one for years but I didn’t know it was an OER. The other thing that you mentioned that I also found was that most of the content I have come across is elementary based. As a high school PE teacher I often find it to be a struggle to find online resources. It would be great to see growth at the secondary level.
Jenni thanks for guiding us to the CK-12 Resource. I think it has some solid potential. Before taking this class I did not realize how much I used OER’s resources in my day to day life. That said I think you are very much in line with UNESCO’s vision on how crucial it is is to provide good, organized resources for all learners. This has implications on all learners in every corner of the world.
Great Job
Gerry