What are OER’s ?

In the computer coding arena openess has been in place for years has lead to the development of some very innovative and broadly adopted technology solutions.  This global movement thrives due to its informal networks of developers who are authoring code, aligned to common standards and then contributing it back to into a project or initiative commons.  The Open Education Movement thematically mirrors the open code movement ensuring academic content is free to “reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute”.  There is wide recognition that the textbook was created for the industrial economy and education system.  OER content is now widely available, flexible learning platforms enable teachers and student to manage this content, and our learners are connected and have the ability to connect anytime and everywhere to these rich resources.

For those interested in dipping their toe in the water with OER’s, Andrew Marcinek’s primer on OER’s from Edutopia is a great starting point.  Open Educational Resources Meet Instructional Design

Where can I find them?

In the K-12 space OER’s are still in their infancy, but there are a number of organizations and entities who are curating and promoting these resources specifically targeting the K-12 space.  Creative Commons is probably the most recognized repository, though for most educators wading through the sheer volume is pretty daunting.  From a educator’s perspective The K-12 OER Collaborative (http://k12oercollaborative.org/ ) had made tremendous strides in curating content as well as lobbying educators and influencers to more broadly adopt OER strategies and practices.   Dr. Cable Green (@creativecommons on Twitter) has been a tremendous influence in this space, championing the use as well as providing leaders with invaluable education on how to operationalize OER’s.   Here is glimpse of some of his work with Washington State leaders. https://youtu.be/m5wRUHl6ZVU

What are barriers to implementation?

Quality control seems to be one of the biggest concerns districts face when attempting to integrate OER’s into their instructional models.   In the industrial model, you vetted and then purchased a “curriculum”, often a textbook and the content in the resource was relatively static and required almost no maintenance.  With OER’s content is often “chunked” into smaller more flexibly components and districts have held tight to the ideals of the legacy model and the need to control all content.  Fortunately there are resources available in the form of widely adopted rubrics and guidance docs to assist disrict leaders in creating an approrpriate review an approval process that fits their needs.

Technology can also be a barrier.  As you attempt to manage and distribute more descrete learning objects what does it look like to ingest, align and organize them.  A modern learning management system is a must as is familiarity with IMS Global (https://www.imsglobal.org/ ) as you grapple with interoperability and evolution of digital learning ecosystems.