article thumbnail

The Fans, Fanboys, and Fanatics of OER

Doug Levin

and I am merely a fan – not a fanboy – of open educational resources (OER).** Others surely see me as some sort of OER fanatic. K-12 context, including issues of accessibility , the copyright that should get assigned to teacher-created materials , and interoperability gaps and needs. I beg to disagree. Image credits.

OER 297
article thumbnail

Navigating the Shift to OER

edWeb.net

During a tour of updates to SETDA’s Digital Instructional Materials Acquisition Policies for States (DMAPS) , which showcases state policies in support of digital materials, Christine Fox, Deputy Executive Director for SETDA, discussed new features like professional development information.

OER 41
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Report: The way we buy digital instructional materials may need an overhaul

eSchool News

Educators stress the importance of state leadership, transparency for purchasing digital instructional materials. A new report urges care when purchasing digital instructional materials, and notes that factors such as interoperability, accessibility, and device access should be considered during the process.

article thumbnail

Open Education – Where do I begin?

Tom Murray

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Andy Marcinek , Chief Open Education Advisor at the US Department of Education (ED), to explore how schools can benefit from Open Educational Resources (OERs) and what is being done in this area nationwide. As with any instructional materials, quality is key.

OER 100
article thumbnail

Education Arm of The Buck Institute – PBLWorks – Receives a $2.9 Million Grant from the Bezos Family Foundation

eSchool News

million grant from the Bezos Family Foundation to design an innovative social studies and civics curriculum that uses a Project Based Learning (PBL) model. The new PBL units are being designed for teachers of grades 4-12 and will be available free as Open Educational Resources (OER). .

OER 52
article thumbnail

Guide to Quality Instructional Resources Focuses on the Process, not the Purchase

edWeb.net

Questioning the quality of instructional materials isn’t new to the digital education era. But with the rise of OER, growing use of supplemental resources over core textbooks, and the increasing flexibility of state funding, more purchasing decisions have moved to the school and district level. Flexibility in adoption options.

article thumbnail

For two states, the digital transition requires an overhaul of the process

edWeb.net

Refocusing classrooms around up-and-coming digital materials requires more than just adding a new tech-based product or two as many processes for reviewing and purchasing instructional materials are still built around print textbooks. “We saw that our code was only looking at the adoption of textbooks,” said DeLeón.