Massachusetts School Library Association
            MEMBER PORTAL                
​Join or Renew     Member Directory​
  • Home
  • About Us
    • MSLA Leadership 2022-23
    • Executive Board Meetings
    • Joint Statements: MLA, MassCUE
    • Spotlight Archive
    • Strategic Plan 2016-22
    • MSLA Constitution
  • Membership
    • Member Portal
    • Join or Renew Your Membership
    • Members Map
    • Email List
    • Regions >
      • Boston
      • Northeast
      • Metrowest
      • Southeast
      • Central
      • West
  • Conference
    • MSLA and PDPs
  • Resources
    • DESE Rubric
    • Certification & Licensure
    • Program Standards & Rubrics
    • Job Description: School Librarian
    • Job Listings
    • MLS Strategic Planning
    • Intellectual Freedom
  • Advocacy
    • MA School Library Study for Equity & Access
    • Everyday Advocacy
    • ESSA
    • Exemplary Programs
  • Newsletter
    • 2023 MSLA Forum Issues >
      • February 2023
    • 2022 MSLA Forum Issues >
      • February 2022
      • May 2022
      • October 2022
    • 2021 MSLA Forum Issues >
      • February 2021
      • May 2021
      • October 2021
    • 2020 MSLA Forum Issues >
      • February 2020
      • May 2020
      • October 2020
    • 2019 MSLA Forum Issues >
      • February 2019
      • May 2019
      • October 2019
    • 2018 MSLA Forum Issues >
      • February 2018
      • May 2018
      • October 2018
    • 2017 MSLA Forum Issues >
      • February 2017
      • May 2017
      • September 2017
      • October 2017
    • 2016 MSLA Forum Issues >
      • February 2016
      • May 2016
      • October 2016
    • 2015 MSLA Forum Issues >
      • April 2015
      • November 2015
    • MSLA Forum 2002-2013
  • Awards
    • Judi Paradis Memorial Grant
    • Archive: History of Awards
    • 2019 Awards Pictures
    • 2018 Awards Pictures
    • 2017 Awards Pictures
    • 2016 Awards Pictures
    • 2015 Awards Pictures
  • Bookmark Contest
    • 2023 Winners
    • 2022 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
    • 2019 and 2018 Winners
    • 2016 and 2017 Winners
    • 2012 to 2015 Winners
    • 2009 to 2011 Winners
    • 2004 to 2008 Winners
    • Bookmark Judges

Tech Column: Open Educational Resources

10/15/2016

0 Comments

 
Margaret Schoen is a Librarian at Newton South High School
A common request for library staff is to help classroom teachers find supplemental materials for their classes. Often this means turning to subscription resources paid for by a district or with state funds, that can be used only in certain ways, and under certain conditions. But librarians can also turn to another growing category of resources that can be accessed for free. Open Educational Resources, generally defined as  teaching and learning materials that are either in the public domain or are released under a license that allows free use and repurposing, are available in a multitude of formats, and include content ranging from short videos to full textbooks, complete with lesson plans, assessments and more.
One of the first major OER  programs began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which in 2001, announced that it planned to make the materials for nearly all its courses freely available on the Internet over the next ten years. The school now has material available from more than 2300 courses, with textbooks, videos, and even translations into multiple languages.
The popularity of MIT’s program, and ones at other schools, led to a greater interest in creating curated, detailed educational materials available free to the public at large. Today, there is a thriving movement in Open Educational Resources, generally defined as  teaching and learning materials that are either in the public domain  or are released under a license that allows free use and repurposing.
OER is a key aspect of the Department of Education’s #GoOpen campaign, which “encourages states, school districts and educators to use openly licensed educational materials to transform teaching and learning.”
“Openly licensed educational resources can increase equity by providing all students, regardless of zip code, access to high quality learning materials that have the most up-to-date and relevant content,” Acting Department of Education Secretary John King said in a recent press release.
OER use can vary widely. It could be as basic as teachers assigning Khan Academy videos alongside their standard curriculum to a district using completely publicly available resources for texts and digital learning.
So what does this mean to today’s librarian?
For one, there’s a new wealth of materials out there that can be searched and presented to teachers. And those resources don’t necessarily need to be something that a district has to pay extra for. But not having pre-packaged materials from a publisher means that searching for the right materials at the right level can be tricky.
OER backers are trying to help with that.  The Learning Registry is a joint project of the Departments of Education and Defense, along with other federal agencies, nonprofits and private companies.  It collects resources for teachers, but also gathers metadata about the materials:  publisher, location, content area, standards alignment, ratings, reviews, and more. This allows partners to access and reconfigure the data their own way.
One of those partners is Follett, which has incorporated OER data from the Learning Registry into its new Destiny Discover service. When users search their catalog for specific topics, the Discover results will include links to relevant OER results. The goal was to help librarians and teachers integrate OER materials with content they already possess, said Follett CEO Nader Qaimari.
“I don’t want people to think that it’s either or,” he said. “You’ve already invested in and own a lot of content and I wanted (librarians)  to look at it alongside.”
Where else can you find it?
  • OER Commons is backed by the by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and  ISKME, the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education. The Commons has materials for K-12 teachers including worksheets, activities, textbooks, and mini-lessons. You can search by grade, subject, material type, and standard.
  • CK-12 Foundation offers free, standards-aligned, open content in STEM subjects, using digital textbooks, simulations, interactive practice and more. The site supports iOS and Android, as well as Google Classroom and Learning Management Systems including Schoology, Canvas, and others.
  • Curriki hosts openly licensed, online educational materials that teachers, educators, or other professionals have created and have made freely available to others for use, reuse, adaptation, and sharing.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Forum Newsletter

    Co-Editors
    Reba Tierney and
    ​Luke Steere

    Reba is the School Librarian at Waltham High School; Luke is School Librarian at  Wilson Middle in Natick

    Click to set custom HTML

    Categories

    All
    AASL
    Academic
    Advocacy
    ALA
    Authors
    Book Bans
    Book Challenges
    Book Trailers
    Cataloging
    Censorship
    Column
    Conference
    Copyright
    Culture
    Databases
    Dewey
    Digital Citizenship
    E Books
    E-books
    Elementary
    ESSA
    Ethics
    Evaluation
    Graphic Books
    Graphic Novels
    Inquiry
    Leadership
    Learning Commons
    Legislation
    Literacy
    Maker Space
    Nonfiction
    Orientation
    Planning
    PLN
    President's Remarks
    Professional Development
    Reading
    Research
    Science
    Secondary
    Standards
    Technology
    Union
    Volunteers
    Weeding

    Archives

    February 2023
    October 2022
    May 2022
    February 2022
    October 2021
    May 2021
    February 2021
    October 2020
    May 2020
    February 2020
    October 2019
    May 2019
    February 2019
    October 2018
    May 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    April 2015

    MSLA Forum Past Issues:
    January 2015
    April 2015
    ​
    2002-2015 MSLA Forum
The Massachusetts School Library Association  works to ensure every school has a school library program that is fully integrated at all grade levels across the curriculum and has a significant and measurable impact on student achievement….Read more…..and Learn more about MSLA

Contact MSLA:
Emily Kristofek, Office Manager/Event Planner
P.O. Box 336. Wayland, MA 01778
ekristofek@maschoolibraries.org
​
508-276-1697 

Massachusetts School Library Association. All Rights Reserved.  Copyright 2023.