We spent some time talking in class about the open education philosophy.  Open education is the idea that everyone everywhere should have free access to high quality educational resources.   OER’s or Open Education Resources are learning materials that can be revised by anyone because the creators have allowed for this to happen.  OER’s can include lecture videos, podcasts and even lesson plans (to name just a few).  It is important to give credit where credit is due but it is also important to have quality content readily available for free.  Creative Commons is a legal tool for alternative copyright licensing.  Some of the benefits of open learning resources for educators….

  •  promotes collaboration – in fact this is a major theme of the open education philosophy
  • reduces barriers – makes materials accessible to students who might be otherwise unable to access them because of cost or location
  • revisable – teachers can download lesson plans, tailor them to their own specifications and then upload them to be shared anew

(Above information gathered from https://opensource.com/resources/what-open-education)

 

Open Education Resources that are worth a look….

  • unsplash
  • curriki.org
  • siyavula.com (open textbooks)
  • oercommons.org