My colleague, Doug Timm (@DougTimm34), and I had the opportunity to represent our district and participate in the Open Education Symposium at the Eisenhower Building in Washington D.C.. This was an amazing event that announced our commitment as a district along with 9 other districts in the country to work to #goopen in the coming months and years. It was incredible to see the collaboration between so many different perspectives coming together for our kids.
In the 15th century, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press…at the time this was a revolutionary invention and provided access to common text throughout the western world with the mass production of books and rapid dissemination of knowledge. It created opportunities for people to learn in a way that was not achievable prior to the printing press. Since then it seems that we have worked hard to instill copyright laws and block the sharing of resources and materials to the masses. Open educational resources (OER’s) has the potential to be the next 'printing press' for education. Our involvement with USDOE’s #goopen project breaks down the walls to curriculum and in the same way as Gutenberg over 500 years ago, it provides access for our students to materials, resources, and knowledge that was not freely available before. This allows them an opportunity to learn using the same high quality resources as any other child in the state, nation, and world regardless of their income.
In Colonial we have embraced the motto 'Where Access Meets Opportunity' which is so apropos for this conversation. We serve an economically diverse community with many of our students coming from low income households. And like many other districts in tough economic times, our district funding and resources are limited. Thus, the opportunity to access open educational resources helps us to level the playing field for our students and bridge the digital divide.
In the 15th century, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press…at the time this was a revolutionary invention and provided access to common text throughout the western world with the mass production of books and rapid dissemination of knowledge. It created opportunities for people to learn in a way that was not achievable prior to the printing press. Since then it seems that we have worked hard to instill copyright laws and block the sharing of resources and materials to the masses. Open educational resources (OER’s) has the potential to be the next 'printing press' for education. Our involvement with USDOE’s #goopen project breaks down the walls to curriculum and in the same way as Gutenberg over 500 years ago, it provides access for our students to materials, resources, and knowledge that was not freely available before. This allows them an opportunity to learn using the same high quality resources as any other child in the state, nation, and world regardless of their income.
In Colonial we have embraced the motto 'Where Access Meets Opportunity' which is so apropos for this conversation. We serve an economically diverse community with many of our students coming from low income households. And like many other districts in tough economic times, our district funding and resources are limited. Thus, the opportunity to access open educational resources helps us to level the playing field for our students and bridge the digital divide.
Going 'Open' is not new to us...
We began our work with open educational resources three years ago, when we were faced with an outdated elementary reading series and the coming of Common Core. We made the strategic decision to shift our funding from a new reading series to investing time and effort into open educational resources. Over the last three years, we have learned a lot about alignment of resources to the core, level of rigor, and creating a blended environment through which to deliver resources. We have worked closely with Schoology (our LMS), our teachers, our instructional coaches, and leaders to do this work in Colonial. This has not been easy work, but it’s been powerful. Our teachers are developing a deeper understanding of the standards and resources. They are working to facilitate student learning by leveraging technology. Our teachers, coaches, and principals are providing professional development and coaching to support teachers.
This process is a journey and we are taking steps on that journey. Our educators need to continue growing their skills at not only culling through content and resources, but also learning to create high-quality content and resources. This process pushes our teachers to truly understand the learning targets and student needs and to leverage OER’s to meet their needs. It’s not easy, it’s not perfect, but if something is worth doing, it’s rarely easy or perfect. It also frees up our teachers to become facilitators of learning and provides them an opportunity for autonomy and creativity. To paraphrase Richard Culatta (@rec54) from yesterday, 'teachers want to create a healthy dinner for their students not reheat someone else’s dinner'.
This process is a journey and we are taking steps on that journey. Our educators need to continue growing their skills at not only culling through content and resources, but also learning to create high-quality content and resources. This process pushes our teachers to truly understand the learning targets and student needs and to leverage OER’s to meet their needs. It’s not easy, it’s not perfect, but if something is worth doing, it’s rarely easy or perfect. It also frees up our teachers to become facilitators of learning and provides them an opportunity for autonomy and creativity. To paraphrase Richard Culatta (@rec54) from yesterday, 'teachers want to create a healthy dinner for their students not reheat someone else’s dinner'.
In my notes, I wrote this down...(sorry for being able to cite the source), textbook adoptions are expensive and when we make that commitment, it locks us in for almost a decade…how much does the world change in a decade? A decade ago, George Bush was president and Pluto was a planet. The textbook companies didn’t send us revised copies or any additional support materials.
With a continued shift towards OER’s it creates an opportunity for our students to access current and relevant materials as they are developed, which will result in increased engagement and learning. Leveraging OER’s opens the doors to content and experiences beyond the four classroom walls. It allows us to personalize and support student learning anytime at any pace, and anyplace. As an adult, I recognize and leverage the value of OER’s through the use of the internet, Twitter, and recently through a digital leadership MOOC out of NC State…why would we deprive our students of the same type of learning experience?
A traditional curriculum cannot provide you access to a presidential debate, up to the minute information on events in Syria, or an online tour of the sculpture garden in our nation’s capitol. Our students need access to this information to connect with the world and compete in a global economy. The stakes of our children are too high to leave it up to a static curriculum in an ever evolving world.
An incredible thanks to Arne Duncan (@arneduncan), Richard Culatta (@rec54), Andrew Marcinek (@andycinek), Joseph South (@southjoseph) and many others for making this happen for our kids.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog...I look forward to connecting with you in the future!
With a continued shift towards OER’s it creates an opportunity for our students to access current and relevant materials as they are developed, which will result in increased engagement and learning. Leveraging OER’s opens the doors to content and experiences beyond the four classroom walls. It allows us to personalize and support student learning anytime at any pace, and anyplace. As an adult, I recognize and leverage the value of OER’s through the use of the internet, Twitter, and recently through a digital leadership MOOC out of NC State…why would we deprive our students of the same type of learning experience?
A traditional curriculum cannot provide you access to a presidential debate, up to the minute information on events in Syria, or an online tour of the sculpture garden in our nation’s capitol. Our students need access to this information to connect with the world and compete in a global economy. The stakes of our children are too high to leave it up to a static curriculum in an ever evolving world.
An incredible thanks to Arne Duncan (@arneduncan), Richard Culatta (@rec54), Andrew Marcinek (@andycinek), Joseph South (@southjoseph) and many others for making this happen for our kids.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog...I look forward to connecting with you in the future!