Product Description
Please note – This course has been written to reflect Common Core Standards, and is not approved for teachers in Texas requiring professional development hours.
Instructor: Jessie Chuang
IntroductionIn the contemporary educational landscape, emerging participatory practices facilitated by technological and socio-cultural developments, have given rise to a new model of knowledge circulation. Such developments suggest that teachers need to foster “participatory learning” where communities of learners work together to build and re-build knowledge. In this course, you will learn why Open Educational Resources (OERs) are important building blocks for participatory learning. The Common Core State Standards also promote the idea that students should “use technology… to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.”
Participatory learning, as a pedagogical model, underscores the urgency of facilitating learning experiences that help build the capacity necessary to contribute in today’s society. But it goes beyond questions of technology access, it’s about cultural competencies and social skills. The quickening pace of technological change means we can barely envision the actual contexts in which our students will use what they are learning in school. Some of the most important contexts will certainly include digital networks of user-generated content that is persistent, searchable, and replicable (boyd, 2008).
The new adoption of K-12 Common Core State Standards provides an excellent opportunity to develop high-quality, openly licensed K-12 courseware that is aligned with these standards. Also, OER provides institutions and educators access, at no cost, to the means of production to develop their competence in producing educational materials and instructional design.
Teachers play a monumental role in facilitating opportunities for students to become critical thinkers, proactive citizens, and creative contributors to the world around them. But it’s crucial that teachers are afforded the same opportunities to grow and learn new cutting edge digital teaching skills for todays “Digital Kids.” Teachers will learn how to build capacity in using OERs, sharing OERs and building OERs, they will connect with like-minded educators and communities, and establish a strong portfolio of an educator as a creator of digital curriculum and lessons.
