I really enjoyed this weeks reading as it further expanded my knowledge and understanding of OER’s, as well as gave me concrete examples that not only aided my understanding but also gave me ideas for my future classroom.
One thing that really stood out to me was that OER’s did not have to be based on technology at first. I originally believed that OER’s had to involve an immediate online component to be considered an OER. Now I understand that teachers/professors can create OER’s from non-technology based assignments, such as Jhangiani allowing their students to create test questions for other students (Wiley and Hilton, 2018, p. 139), and then transfer the non-technology based components online for them to be publicly shared/openly licensed.
I really enjoyed reading about the 4 part test Wiley and Hilton (2018) created, as it was very straightforward and easy to understand. I also enjoyed the fact that throughout the reading they gave concrete examples of what constitutes as an OER and what doesn’t if something is missing.
When it comes to my past learning, I can think of one project I did when I was in high school that could be considered an OER. It was a Spanish class in which me and three other peers were asked to create a Youtube video that followed a specific plot and was spoken completely in Spanish. We had to add subtitles to the video for others to be able to understand. Following the four rules, we:
- created a new artifact: the creation of the video
- value to other learners: learning Spanish through our subtitles
- publicly shared: we uploaded the video to Youtube
- invited to openly license: the Youtube video was then used as an example for future classes who took the Spanish course.
I had so much fun creating this project, and it was actually very educational as we had to work exceptionally hard to not only create a working script, but also edit our video, make props, and correctly upload it to the internet for public viewing.
As I am going to be working with younger kids when I become a teacher, I may aim to stay away from openly online resources such as Youtube, as this can create privacy and protection issues when working with minors (Wiley and Hilton, 2018, p. 144). I could however see myself allowing students to create their own test questions, or write an introduction to course material that could then be revised and reused by future classes of mine or other teachers. I would be very interested to know if any of my peers will be incorporating OER’s into their classroom, and if so if they have any other ideas for our future classes!
Wiley, D. & Hilton, J. (2018). Defining OER-enabled Pedagogy. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 19(4).
As a side note, here is the actual link to my Youtube video that we created for Spanish…it is a laugh for sure.
August 24, 2021 at 2:17 pm
Hi Jordan,
I enjoyed reading your post, thanks for including the Spanish video!
As a future teacher, I had the same apprehension as yourself regarding using openly online resources with young students. I mentioned in my post that it makes me nervous because so many people are on the internet with the intention to spend hurtful messages. This is why it is so important to teach students about cyberbullying and how to be positive digital bystanders as early as possible.
I think I am more interested in teaching students a little older than yourself (middle years probably) and I had 3 ideas for students in my target ages to “dip their toes” into the public domain. These ideas were writing powerful comments on YouTube videos, participating in appropriate Twitter Chats, and editing Wikipedia articles. I especially liked the idea of editing Wikipedia articles because in order to make changes you need to source your work. This encourages students to research before sharing online. Additionally, since so many people edit articles daily, their work wouldn’t necessarily be “permanent”.
August 24, 2021 at 2:59 pm
Hi, Jordyn
Great job reflecting on this week’s readings.
I also appreciated the reading as it expanded my understanding of OER’s. Thanks for also commenting on OER’s not necessarily being created online. I was also under the impression that the artifacts had to have been created online.
Your concerns regarding obtaining consent from schools and parents are very valid. In your opinion, what target age group do you think would benefit from courses that satisfy the 4-part test?
If I was an educator, I’d consider incorporating activities like editing Wikipedia entries. I think this is a great way to also educate your learners on the importance of digital citizenship.
I would also avoid youtube for a younger age group. If they were in the 16 to 18 range, I’d consider allowing them to create youtube videos much like the Spanish video you shared.
August 24, 2021 at 7:35 pm
Hi Jordyn,
I enjoyed your blog post and thought the Spanish YouTube video was great. I love how you incorporated your past learning with what we are learning now.
As someone who also plans to teach elementary-aged students, I have the same concerns as you when it comes to my students’ online privacy and safety. I really love the idea of OER-enabled pedagogy but, in my opinion, if you want to achieve the four-point test, you would need to use this kind of pedagogy with post-secondary students who are over the age of eighteen. Although many assignments in elementary school can only meet the first three points of the four-point test, they can still help students extend their learning in a meaningful and creative way and help others in their learning community. Some examples that I mentioned in my blog that I thought would be great for elementary students are:
students creating supplementary learning resources to facilitate learning for future students, and having students create summaries of key course concepts to assist future students with some of the difficult concepts. I like these examples because they facilitate educating others, so learning becomes more meaningful to the students.
August 24, 2021 at 9:40 pm
Hi Jordyn,
Your blog post was really informative and interesting to read. I like that with your own example, you laid out how each part was applicable to OER. I really enjoyed reading that part in the article as well because they provided lots of different examples, all of which were quite different from each other and diverse. I agree that openly online resources like Youtube should be avoided due to privacy concerns with minors. When I had to post my own videos for past assignments in previous classes, I did not like that my identity was being exposed to the public for the sake of the class. I can see why issues such as cyberbullying concerns may arise as well. I really enjoyed your take on this article, thank you! And thank you for sharing your video!