OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN THE EARTH SCIENCES: EXAMPLES FROM THE UC BERKELEY LIBRARY’S AFFORDABLE COURSE CONTENT PILOT PROGRAM

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Teplitzky ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Earth Sciences ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
Course Content ◽  
The Earth

scholarly journals Designing an online learning environment on Open Educational Resources for science education

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Shironica Karunanayaka ◽  
Chandana Fernando ◽  
Vajira de Silva
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Online Learning Environment ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Course Content

The concept of Open Educational Resources (OER) is a major breakthrough in education, which promotes sharing, adaptation and contextualisation of course content. Promotion of using OER can be very cost effective, since development of new course content would be both expensive and time consuming. However, awareness raising and capacity building of teachers and learners is crucial, in order to exploit the full potential of OER.The Faculty of Education at the Open University of Sri Lanka, initiated a research project to create an Online Learning Environment (OLE) on OER for science education, witha view to raise awareness, develop competencies and enhance adapting, adoption and creation of OER by teachers. This is developed in Moodle Learning Management System, as a supplementary material for science teachers enrolled in a distance mode professional development programme. The research team, together with a group of science teachers and teacher educators, who are their students, is engaged in this action research conducted in several stages: analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation. This paper discusses the first three stages, concerning the following objectives: to identify sources of OER for science education, to make key design decisions of the OLE, and to design and develop the OLE on OER for science education.The analysis of need, learner, task and context, resulted in making decisions on information, instruction, interaction and interface design. Some initial design decisions are: Structuring of information on finding, using and creating OER related to teaching science, while making it relevant and meaningful for teachers; Use of exploratory instructional strategies enabling teachers to select OER; Incorporate frequent interactions encouraging teachers to adopt, adapt, create and share OER; and Use of different media elements to make the visual layout motivating. A prototype will be pilot tested with science teachers with a view to revise and improve the OLE on OER. Allowing student teachers/teacher educators to work collaboratively with their instructors, as a team, enable both parties to face challenges together, in this novel experience of designing and developing an OLE on OER.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Learning Mode of the Elaborate Resource Sharing Course

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (09) ◽  
pp. 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Cai ◽  
Yingying Jin ◽  
Hongwei Yue ◽  
Haoran Huang
Keyword(s):  
Resource Sharing ◽  
Virtual Learning Environment ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Intellectual Property Right ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Network Teaching ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Teachers And Students

Educational informatization and networking have become inevitable because of the major changes in the course content system and teaching modes. Examining the status of elaborate resource sharing course (ERSC) construction and analyzing the sharing and application of educational resources are vital. Through the comparative analysis of foreign open classes and domestic resource sharing courses, this paper puts forward recommendations for the sharing of resources and communication between teachers and students in the construction of an ERSC. Positive interactions between teachers and students can be promoted in network-based teaching using the WeChat public platform to build a virtual learning environment. Then, this paper analyzes the effect of the intellectual property right protection of network teaching on open educational resources and proposes countermeasures. Results show that the WeChat teaching technology and the cited standards for the public educational resources can improve learning efficiency. These conclusions can also serve as reference in promoting the sustainable development of ERSC.

Adoption and Use of Open Educational Resources at Botswana Open University

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1 & 2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lekopanye L. Tladi ◽  
Tebogo E. Seretse
Keyword(s):  
Academic Staff ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Open University ◽  
Time Saving ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
International Trends ◽  
The University

The purpose of the study was to investigate the adoption of open educational resources (OER) at Botswana Open University (BOU). The paper examines the journey the university traversed over the years, both as a user and contributor of OER resources. The problem was that despite the institution’s involvement in a number of OER initiatives since 2009, it was observed that OER uptake was still slow. The objective of the study was therefore to investigate the perceptions of the academic staff involved in the use of OER programmes so as to examine the successes and challenges experienced by BOU in adopting and implementing OER. The following research questions were posed: What are the perceptions of academic staff on the OER? What skills are required for effective utilisation of OER? What are the challenges experienced in using the OER? The methodology followed a qualitative case study approach and used document analysis with an open-ended written questionnaire as methods for data collection. The research population comprised four lecturers and purposive sampling was preferred. Some of the key findings were that OER were useful, good quality, cost saving and time saving. One of the outstanding findings was that academic staff lacked adequate training on the use of OER. They also required provision of adequate ICT and connectivity resources. Some of the challenges highlighted were inadequate funding as well as an inadequate academic staff complement. The paper recommends possible solutions to address some of these challenges at a local level in line with international trends. Consideration should also be made to capacitate the academic structures of the university with more qualified personnel to take responsibility for programme design and course content using OER.

scholarly journals The freedom to teach: Using open educational resources in your courses

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Holland
Keyword(s):  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Pilot Program ◽  
Engaged Learning ◽  
Educational Materials ◽  
Creative Commons ◽  
Course Materials ◽  
Course Redesign ◽  
Streaming Videos ◽  
Online Sources

Open educational resources (OER) are “high-quality, openly licensed, online educational materials that offer an extraordinary opportunity for people everywhere to share, use, and reuse knowledge” (William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, n.d.). These materials range from full courses and course materials (including textbooks) to streaming videos and software.Innovative educators recognize that OER offer an exciting alternative to restrictive (and expensive) textbooks by allowing them the freedom to select quality content that better fits their pedagogy. Students benefit from more engaged learning, lower costs, and the ability to revise and remix these materials as assigned by their instructor. The virtual sky is the limit!The 4-VA Collaborative at George Mason University recently announced a competitive grants pilot program (February, 2016) to incentivize Mason instructional faculty to identify existing, or create new, open digital content and incorporate it into their course(s). The proposed interactive presentation session will build on the Mason 4-VA pilot program. A team of four faculty members from Mason and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College will lead the session. Discussion topics to be covered include defining OER, describing Creative Commons licenses, strategies for integrating OER in courses, and identifying quality materials. Participants should bring a laptop as they will be divided into small groups during the session to familiarize themselves with websites that aggregate OER content applicable to their discipline(s).By the end of this session, participants will be able to:Define OER,Understand Creative Commons licenses,Outline the first steps in planning an OER project, andIdentify some online sources for discipline-specific OER.We anticipate that OER collaborations will emerge from this session. ReferencesMason 4-VA Collaborative. (February, 2016). Course Redesign: Using Open Educational Resources. Retrieved from http://4va.gmu.edu/call-for-proposals William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (n.d.) Open Educational Resources. Retrieved from http://www.hewlett.org/programs/education/open-educational-resources

scholarly journals Facilitating Student Success: The Role of Open Educational Resources in Introductory Psychology Courses

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer N Engler ◽  
Randi Shedlosky-Shoemaker
Keyword(s):  
Student Success ◽  
Introductory Psychology ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Content Mastery ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Barriers To Access ◽  
Psychology Courses ◽  
Course Material ◽  
The Impact

Open Educational Resources (OER) remove barriers to access instructional material. In light of their increased availability and use, a body of research has emerged to examine the impact of OER on college student success. While many of these studies have broadly examined efficacy across a variety of disciplines, the current study specifically examined the impact of the type of textbook (commercial vs. OER) on course content mastery within an undergraduate sample of introductory psychology students ( N = 63) while controlling for instructor and student differences. Results indicated that there were no significant differences in content mastery between those students in introductory psychology courses who were assigned a traditional commercial textbook and those who were assigned an OER textbook. These results support that OER can be equally effective as traditional, commercial textbooks and have implications for course material selections that help ensure access for all students.

scholarly journals Incorporating Writing into College Biology Using Student-Created Open Educational Resources

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (5) ◽  
pp. 344-347
Author(s):  
Lindsey K. Roper ◽  
John Belk ◽  
Rebekah Smith
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Open Educational Resources ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
Human Biology ◽  
College Level ◽  
Course Content ◽  
College Biology ◽  
Biology Class ◽  
Student Teams ◽  
Cognitive Levels

This article details a set of team-based assignments in a college-level integrated English and human biology course. In this semester-long assignment sequence, student teams rotate through a series of activities to create open educational resources for a nonmajors, general education human biology class. These student-generated materials facilitate engagement with course content at high cognitive levels in order to “write the book” for the class. Finally, an end-of-semester synthesis project asks students to compile and present their finished work for wider distribution via student-made websites.

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