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Open Educational Resources (OER)

1.1 What is an OER?

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (2016) describes Open Educational Resources (OERs) as “high-quality teaching, learning, and research materials that are free for people everywhere to use and repurpose” (para. 1). Reiser and Dempsey (2017) elaborate, “OERs can include a wide range of educational materials ranging from full courses to singular learning object such as videos or images” (p. 180). Wiley (as cited in Reiser and Dempsey, 2016) elaborates further by explaining that for a product to be considered and OER, outside parties need to be able to legally retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute the content as they so choose. (p. 319)

1.2 Why are OERs a current trend?

OER are customizable depending on teachers’ purposes. The accessibility and versatility make them significant in today’s K-12 educational environment where teachers are working with diverse student bodies with varying interests, strengths, and needs. Dr. David Wiley is an active and vocal proponent of OER and the “Chief Academic Officer of Lumen Learning, an organization dedicated to increasing student success, reinvigorating pedagogy, and improving the affordability of education through the adoption of open educational resources by schools, community and state colleges, and universities.” (Wiley, n.d., para. 1) In a blog post, Wiley (2013) elaborates further: “OER are,

• Free to access
• Free to reuse
• Free to revise
• Free to remix
• Free to redistribute” (para. 2).

Due to their lack of cost and adaptability, OER have multiple implications for today’s educational realms including access to manipulative high quality materials, cost effectiveness, and enhanced teacher input and collaboration.

Below, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (2015) discuss problematic publishing issues: …stakeholders are identifying a number of problems with the dominant publishing model. In the United States, textbook costs are rising rapidly while quality suffers, particularly in the K–12 market in terms of alignment with the latest educational standards. In the developing world, there are often shortages of high-quality materials, and many students cannot access the existing materials due to cost barriers and copyright issues that prevent translation. Across all countries, teachers feel bound to rigid curricula that are not tailored to their students’ needs and local contexts. OER may be able to solve these problems. (p. iiij)

School districts throughout the nation are facing budget restraints that make OERs an important consideration for no-cost, current, high quality teaching and learning materials. The United States Department of Education quotes Open Education Advisor, Andrew Marcinek, “Switching to openly-licensed educational materials has enabled school districts to repurpose funding typically spent on static textbooks for other pressing needs, such as investing in the transition to digital learning” (U.S. Department of Education, 2016, para. 6).

Furthermore, “As the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Mathematics are implemented, school districts will be looking for instructional material to meet the new standards. Open Educational Resources (OER) may help fill that need” (Access Washington, 2017, para. 2). Kramer (2015) explains another factor that make OER important in K-12 and higher education. He states the OER enhance teachers’ expertise: “Openly licensed materials empower teachers: unleashing their creativity by enabling them to customize courses in ways that deepen both their own engagement and that of their students” (para. 3).

Finally, “These tools facilitate self-organization among educators and learners, providing a bottom-up option for collaborative learning to complement existing centrally organized and designed learning networks” (Martinez, 2010, p. 75).

1.3 Implementation of OERs in the K-12 Setting

“Teachers are self-organizing to share curricula through open educational resources” (Martinez, 2017, p. 74). This collaboration and access to resources is evolving into abundant repositories of searchable K-12 content, often organized and searchable. Tonks, Weston, Wiley, and Barbour (2013) describe a high school in Utah that relies solely on OER. The author’s quote the school’s charter documents when they explain, “This approach allows unprecedented levels of individualized instruction with a highly responsive curriculum” (Tonks, Weston, Wiley & Barbour, 2013, p. 258). The Knowledge Hub, developed in 2001, is just one example of a warehouse containing open resources for K-12 education developed in 2001. The philosophy of the organization is, “Empowerment through Technology Integration” (Kembhavi, n.d., para. 4).

Without doubt, technology is a mighty force that elicits massive transformation in the education sector. However, it is not enough to simply have the technology in our hands. It is more imperative to identify the right tools and resources that will address specific needs of every school and be able to utilize it in such a way that will be adequate and suitable to the different learning requirements of every child. Correspondingly, it is indispensable to have technology that is sustainable, making sure that technological advancements used in every classroom are effectively utilized, correctly implemented and strongly supported. With that, we are certain that learning will not be futile, but instead, will be meaningful. (Kembhavi, n.d., para. 6)

The field of open educational resources for K-12 students is growing (Martinez, 2010, p. 74), and additional resources can be found in the section of this Wiki Chapter entitled, Recommended Resources.

1.4 Key issues with OERs

Waters (as cited in Welz, 2017) explains that “Because OERs are digital, teachers and students cannot access them without computers, tablets, or smart mobile devices” (p. 66). Underfunded systems will still lack access to these powerful resources; and, consequently the digital divide stands to grow. Funding, support, structure, and planning by educational leaders and stakeholders across the globe is necessary if K-12 schools are to utilize these resources responsibly and effectively for all students.

There exists extensive content with access to Web 2.0, and a great deal of that content falls into the definition of OER. However, quality educators who are ready and willing to embrace OER are essential if the movement is to continue expanding. Hashey and Stahl (2014) explain that the growth and acceptance of online learning resources have not eliminated the need for teachers when they explain: “The teacher remains a key factor in a child’s education” (p. 71). In order to use OER effectively and efficiently, competent, thoughtful educators must retrieve, filter and store materials. “Because open learning environments empower local teachers and staff so significantly, quality assurance in these environments requires more active involvement by local teachers and staff” (Tonks, et al., 2013, p. 262). Due to the way in which educators, schools, and districts have come to rely on copy written educational materials, Reiser and Dempsey (2016) explain that a educators will need to think more broadly of how OER can replace or be included in current curricula in ways that enhance teaching and learning. “When you strip away the constraints of copyright, as open educational resources do, what new kids of educational practice, instructional design, assessment strategies and pedagogies become possible” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2016, p. 321).

Districts that have digital access will need to examine and adjust firewalls that impede educators from accessing some OER. This shift may make it necessary for schools to adopt digital citizenship courses or lessons so students avoid content that might be objectionable.

In addition, assessments are currently lacking on OER spaces and Wiley states, “Now that the OER snowball is rolling down the hill and growing in size every day, at least some people in the field need to turn their attention to the creation of Open Assessment Resources (OAR)” (Wiley, 2011, para. 6). If a K-12 educational community commits to using OER to teach the current generation of students, they will need effective ways to assess learning.

1.6 Recommended Resources for OERs

References Access Washington. (2017). Open educational resources. Retrieved from https://digitallearning.k12.wa.us/oer/

Hashey, A. I., & Stahl, S. (2014). Making online learning accessible for students with disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 46(5), 70-78. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.wilkes.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.wilkes.edu/docview/1552688627?accountid=62703

Kembhavi, S. (n.d.). Knowledge Hub. Retrieved from http://knowledge-hub.com/about-us.html

Kramer, L. (2015, December 9). Sharing the benefits of open educational resources with everyone. Retrieved from http://www.hewlett.org/sharing-the-benefits-of-open-educational-resources-with-everyone/

Martinez, M. (2010). A new generation of teachers will change schools. The Phi Delta Kappan, 91(7), 74-75.

Reiser, R.A, & Dempsey, J.V. (2016-2017). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology. New York: Pearson.

Tonks, D., Weston, S., Wiley, D., & Barbour, M. K. (2013). "Opening" a new kind of school: The story of the open high school of Utah. International Review of Research in Open and

Distance Learning, 14(1) Retrieved from https://ezproxy.wilkes.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.wilkes.edu/docview/1634343329?accountid=62703

U.S. Department of Education. (2016, February 26). U.S. department of education recognizes 14 states and 40 districts committing to #GoOpen with educational resources. Retrieved from https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-recognizes-13-states-and-40-districts-committing-goopen-educational-resources

Welz, K. (2017). School librarians and open educational resources aid and implement common core instructional content in the classroom. Knowledge Quest, 45(4), 62-68. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.wilkes.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.wilkes.edu/docview/1875070078?accountid=62703

Wiley, D. (n.d.). David Wiley. Retrieved from http://davidwiley.org/

Wiley, D. (2011, October 10). Re: The primary challenge for the OER moment [Web log post]. https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/2042

Wiley, D. (2013, October 13). Re: Iterating toward openness [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/2975

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (2017). Open educational resources. Retrieved from http://www.hewlett.org/strategy/open-educational-resources/

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (2015, December). Open educational resources: Advancing widespread adoption to improve instruction and learning. [Executive Summary]. Retrieved from http://www.hewlett.org/wp- content/uploads/2016/11/Open_Educational_Resources_December_2015.pdf