Edsurge

JANUARY 15, 2019

Open educational resources hit a turning point in 2018. For the first time ever, the federal government put forward funds to support initiatives around open educational resources, and recent studies show that faculty attitudes towards using and adapting these openly-licensed learning materials are steadily improving.

OER 148

OER Course Resources Libraries 148

Iterating Toward Openness

OCTOBER 9, 2018

Recently I’ve been doing both more thinking and more roll-up-your-sleeves working on continuous improvement of OER. Improvement in post secondary education will require converting teaching from a solo sport to a community-based research activity. We need each other. The RISE and Shine Initiative.

OER 122

OER Outcomes Analysis Assessment 122

Iterating Toward Openness

JANUARY 31, 2020

I’m going to write a post or three about some of the friction that exists around using OER. There are some things about working with OER that are just harder or more painful than they need to be, and getting more people actively involved in using OER will require us to reduce or eliminate those points of friction.

OER 128

OER LMS Software Course 128

Edsurge

AUGUST 4, 2022

In May, the homework-help site that relies on student-generated content, Course Hero, dipped its toes into freely available, openly licensed alternatives known as Open Educational Resources, or OER, course materials. When educators stumbled onto the fact that hosting had changed hands, it provoked a backlash.

OER 159

OER Resources Education Course 159

Edsurge

OCTOBER 30, 2018

In response, open educational materials, or OER, have emerged as an alternative to expensive textbooks that disproportionately affect low-income students. But as more open materials become accessible, advocates for open education still see room for improvement. What open education is saying though, is “yes, and.”

OER 137

OER Policies Accessibility Outcomes 137

Iterating Toward Openness

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

In describing her coining of the phrase “open source software” in 1998, Christine Peterson wrote : The introduction of the term “open source software” was a deliberate effort to make this field of endeavor more understandable to newcomers and to business, which was viewed as necessary to its spread to a broader community of users.

OER 110

OER Advocacy Software Company 110

Doug Levin

MAY 16, 2016

What I do want to comment on (in greater than 140 characters) is the practice of ‘openwashing:’ what it is, why I believe not being able to go beyond a pro-OER elephant test for organizations and service providers is untenable in practice, and some thoughts on what we can do about it. The Pro-OER Elephant Test.

OER 170

OER Software Company Twitter 170

Doug Levin

JANUARY 15, 2016

The Layers of ESSA: Educational Technology in Title IV – 21st Century Schools, Part A. While most people surely love a good layer cake, the layers of provisions governing the new educational technology program in Title IV, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) are nothing if not overly complicated.

Policies 258

Policies Technology Education OER 258

Hapara

AUGUST 8, 2022

Have you ever considered creating your own open educational resources (OER)? Because these resources are open to use, when you share an OER, other educators across the globe can access it and use it in their classrooms. Let’s take a look at how to develop K-12 open educational resources.

OER 130

OER Resources How To Education 130

EdTech4Beginners

APRIL 2, 2017

The amount of new acronyms in the educational technology world is staggering… and often overwhelming for educators. CREATE – Collaboartion, Resources, Educate, Apps, Technology, Enriching. GAFE – Google Apps For Education (include Google Docs, Google Sites etc). DOK – Depth Of Knowledge. MLD – Mobile Learning Devices.

EdTech 189

EdTech VLE CMS OER 189

Iterating Toward Openness

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

tl;dr – In order to be relevant today and in the future, a national open education strategy must (1) know exactly what it is trying to accomplish and (2) deeply integrate generative AI. WICHE is convening a series of conversations this week and next titled, “ Do We Need a National Open Education Strategy?

Strategy 133

Strategy OER Education Policies 133

Edsurge

JUNE 27, 2016

Back in February, an EdWeek Market brief reported that Amazon Education was starting to beta-test a new platform with educators, helping teachers navigate the jungles of open educational resources (or OERs, for short). The search capabilities of Amazon Inspire. In support of Amazon’s commitment to the U.S.

OER 113

OER Resources Education Software 113

A Principal's Reflections

MAY 20, 2018

For starters, I have now been going on four years since transitioning from high school principal to Senior Fellow with the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE). Personalized and blended learning pathways were proclaimed to be the future of education. How are we preparing learners for this world?

OER 300

OER Personal Learning Network Outcomes Blended Learning 300

Edsurge

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

Department of Education. Called “Changing the Equation: Empowering Adult Learners with Edtech,” it’s the culmination of three years of research commissioned by the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education through its Power in Numbers initiative. People tend to have ‘math trauma,’” Ward says.

Report 162

Report EdTech Tools OER 162

Iterating Toward Openness

APRIL 25, 2019

I spend most of my time doing fairly tactical thinking and working focused on moving OER adoption forward in the US higher education space. In this vision of the world, OER replace traditionally copyrighted, expensive textbooks for all primary, secondary, and post-secondary courses. My end goal isn’t to increase OER adoption.

OER 84

OER Course Company Smartphone 84

Iterating Toward Openness

SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

This is the opening section of my September 19, 2024 presentation, Why Open Education Will Become Generative AI Education. The Primary Goal of the Open Education Movement For over 25 years, the primary goal of the open education movement has been to increase access to educational opportunities.

OER 68

OER Accessibility Education Broadband 68

Doug Levin

MARCH 1, 2017

About a year and a half ago , I launched a ‘reading list’ feature on this site in an effort to expand folks’ perspectives on technology in education. Should my curation of writing relevant to education and technology be of interest to you, consider subscribing to new posts as I intend to archive the most interesting pieces.

Trends 150

Trends EdTech OER Software 150

Edsurge

NOVEMBER 30, 2017

The secret to its swift entry into publishing was OER (open education resources). Rather than hire authors to write textbooks from scratch, the company is now curating open-educational materials already on the internet. Knewton’s pitch is that its mix of OER and an adaptive-learning system will set it apart.

Knewton 135

Knewton Strategy OER Pearson 135

Iterating Toward Openness

JUNE 9, 2016

The tl;dr: Supporting effective OER adoption at scale has its problems. If OER adoption were to become widespread among the majority of faculty, it became clear that someone would need to do something more than create OER, post it on a website, and give conference talks about it. Background and Some Problems.

OER 60

OER LMS Learning Sakai 60

Edsurge

JUNE 26, 2017

Last summer the world’s largest online retailer launched Amazon Inspire, touting it as a hub for educators to exchange lesson plans and other Open Education Resources. Some wonder when it will be open to the wider education community (and what the company’s broader education strategy is). Department of Education.

Education 141

Education OER Company Facebook 141

Iterating Toward Openness

APRIL 29, 2016

Earlier this week I read an op-ed – sponsored by Pearson – titled “If OER is the answer, what is the question?” OER often shine in their variety and ability to deepen resources for niche topics. frequent formative assessment opportunities) can appear in educational resources with any copyright license.

OER 60

OER Instructional Materials Pearson Resources 60

Iterating Toward Openness

AUGUST 3, 2015

I now have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of general education courses and some specific degree programs will transition entirely to OER in US higher ed. I spent most of my thinking time last week wondering about obstacles in the way of the ubiquitous adoption of OER in US higher education and how we might overcome them.

OER 60

OER Education Course Instructional Materials 60

Edsurge

OCTOBER 22, 2021

based company, called Argos Education, is that the way textbooks are created and revised is due for a reset. You can think about it as almost an Amazon-like self-publishing system plus Amazon Kindle store plus Amazon Kindle reader software for courseware,” said Feldstein. A key premise of the Lexington, Mass.-based

Pearson 167

Pearson OER Software Course 167

Edsurge

OCTOBER 24, 2019

HOUSTON — On the third floor of a bank building near Rice University, the future of higher education is being written. And some credit it for helping kick-start a trend—now known as open educational resources, or OER—that has sent shockwaves through the traditional publishing industry. Or at least, edited.

Industry 116

Industry OER Course Company 116

Iterating Toward Openness

MARCH 24, 2025

Like the random person pulled off the street, most generative AI models are neither pre-trained nor fine-tuned with education in mind. Pedagogical Knowledge, which is deep knowledge about the processes and practices or methods of teaching and learning and how it encompasses, among other things, overall educational purposes, values, and aims.

Training 88

Training OER Blackboard Strategy 88

Iterating Toward Openness

APRIL 4, 2017

For many years we have seen openwashing among companies working in the education space, in which they either knowingly or accidentally attempt to equate “open” with something other than a free grant of the 5R permissions. But that’s not what open means. ” Free plus what? Why does it matter?

OER 135

OER Software Company Resources 135

Edsurge

JULY 5, 2016

Open educational resources (OER) have saved students at the University of Georgia (UGA) nearly $2 million in textbook costs alone over the past three years. Rather than roll out a broad campaign to promote OER on campus, the center is focused on working with individual faculty members who teach large enrollment courses, Watson says.

OER 90

OER Software Course Study 90

21st Century Educational Technology and Learning

JANUARY 14, 2020

It actually is quite obvious that the Arts should be included in STEM education. The very first time I heard the idea of integrating the Arts into STEM education was while watching a 2009 keynote made by Daniel Pink at the NECC Conference in Washington DC… yes prior to ISTE Conferences! In essence, routine work is disappearing!

STEM 207

STEM Resources OER Conference 207

EdTech4Beginners

MARCH 7, 2018

Using mobile for educational purposes is a slightly new concept. If correctly implemented, it can make e-learning an extensive new way of education and provide an all-around scope. It is a software application that helps you create, track, and report training programme or educational courses anywhere using any device.

MOOC 127

MOOC Gamification OER Smartphone 127

The CoolCatTeacher

JULY 26, 2017

This means that you can write your own textbooks, share them, or use them as you would any other OER or open education resource. As an educator, he led Carnegie Mellon University’s Putnam team to its first-ever #1 rank among all North American universities. What makes Expii unique?

Classroom 296

Classroom OER Software System 296

Marketplace K-12

JULY 8, 2016

School districts across the country are experimenting with “open” educational resources–and they’re getting strong encouragement from the Obama administration. ” Backers of open education resources often define them as materials released under licenses that allow for their free use, repurposing, and modification as users see fit.

Software 74

Software Groups OER Industry 74

Tom Murray

JANUARY 12, 2016

In America ,” former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan often says, “ your zip code or your socioeconomic status should never determine the quality of your education. Professional learning that is relevant, engaging, and personalized builds capacity for educators to take charge of their own learning.

EdTech 189

EdTech Future Ready Social Media Broadband 189

Iterating Toward Openness

MAY 27, 2016

Andrew Rickard has written a thoughtful essay on OER, open pedagogy, and commercial interests. His doubts are not unique; I think there is a broad sense of uneasiness regarding the participation of commercial players in the open education space. Think about our older sibling, the open source software movement. Where do you land?

OER 74

OER Knewton Software Company 74

Iterating Toward Openness

NOVEMBER 13, 2017

[Back in 2012 – 2013] I was impressed (like many others I’m sure) with how Wiley was able to frame the cost-savings argument around open textbooks to build broader interest for OERs. I fear it is OER wanting it both ways. The question we must each ask ourselves is – what is the real goal of our OER advocacy?

Accessibility 90

Accessibility OER Pearson MOOC 90

ProfHacker

AUGUST 26, 2016

When we look at common definitions of Open Educational Resources or OERs (e.g., But what if we adopt a different perspective, a broader understanding of OERs, which includes the processes and products of open scholarship as valuable, and viable, resources too?

OER 40

OER MOOC Conference Advocacy 40

Kitaboo on EdTech

APRIL 2, 2019

The overall cost of higher education has been continuously increasing, as is evident by the rise in the textbook prices. But how do they compete with resources like MOOCs and OERs that have made high quality course content from respected university professors available for free? What Is a Subscription Model? a semester.

OER 16

OER Education MOOC Adaptive Learning 16

IT Bill

JUNE 27, 2017

The June issue of the International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL) is dedicated to Open Educational Resources (OER). Several of the studies focus specifically on OER and student learning outcomes. Certainly one of the main advantages of adopting OER is lowering the costs to students.

OER 34

OER Outcomes Learning Software 34