Open Educational Resources (OER)

Open Educational Resources, or OER, are resources that are available at little to no cost that is used for teaching, research, or learning. OER's enable teachers and students a gateway to unlimited information to use in research and the classroom. OER's are found online in digital formats and thus can be accessed anywhere whether at school or home. OER's were developed by leading research universities and some of the most used are OpenCourseWare (MIT), Connexions (Rice), and Open Learning Initiative (Carnegie Mellon). This is significant for educators because it gives a database of trusted sources and documents in which we can use in the classroom. For example, it gives an AP history teacher access to documents to use in the classroom to formulate essays prompts or to analyze the time period. Some downfalls of OER's are that the quality can be uneven and incomplete depending on the sources of the materials. Some databases have out of date sources which deludes a person's research without updated statistics.

The first resource I looked at was entitled, "Teaching with Documents: The 1897 Petition Against the Annexation of Hawaii." This source would help me in the classroom in a discussion on the McKinley Administration and the push to annex Hawaii. I would be able to point the differences politically at the time of annexation as the previous administration had opposed it. This document would highlight the Democratic parties arguments against the annexation as well as the attitudes of the native Hawaiians living on the island. The second resource I looked at was entitled, "The Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1865." This source would help me highlight the overall statistics of the battle itself. It references how many soldiers died on both sides, the number of forces, and the main commanders. The source also helps give an brief summary on the battle itself. I could use this source to introduce or conclude a lesson on the battle of Gettysburg. The third resource I looked at was entitled, "Bill of Rights." This source would be a great resource to use to highlight the process of the Bill of Rights to a middle school social studies student. It gives an overview of the whole adoption process of the Bill of Rights.

The first OER I checked out was the MIT OpenCourseWare. This website was very easy to use and was full of updated resources. The site was broken down by either courses by field or a category of new courses/translated courses offered by MIT. The second OER I checked out was the Utah State University OpenCourseWare. Again this was a very easy site to use. Utah State had it broken down into the available departments that used the database. Comparing the two sites, Utah State had more resource categories to offer than MIT did on their OER. The third OER I checked out was the Tufts University OpenCourseWare. On the Tufts site it took me awhile to find the courses option as the font was small and the font color was not much darker than the background color. Tufts offered much more centralized and specialized categories than the other two sites. Tufts seemed more geared toward graduate students.

The Teaching Channel: A Great Source to Develop a Lesson

Today I worked with a new source, the Teaching Channel. This sight was great for getting ideas on how to form a solid lesson within a subject area. The site is easy to use and breaks things into subjects and categories. As a future Social Studies teachers I found great videos on how to use maps within the classroom and how to tackle topics with specific questions for students to show critical thinking.

The first video I watched was entitled Reading Like a Historian: Sourcing. This video was on using sources to analyze the Gulf of Tonkin incident that led to the declaration to begin full out conflict in Vietnam. The video used multiple sources including the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The students explored various angles to the situation from political and social aspects. Since 1964 was an election year many students argued that the resolution was a way for President Johnson to look good for re-election and some argued that it was a just resolution since an American ship was attacked. The use of sourcing is important in backing points in an essay assignment through citing that source. By doing a class assignment in class it gives students practice in using sources in future assignments such as essays.

The second video I watched was entitled Reading Like a Historian: Philosophical Chairs. This video was on taking sides on the Vietnam War through a social, economic, or political viewpoint. This lesson was for students to form an opinion on the Vietnam War through sources, which included viewpoints from John Kerry and Martin Luther King Jr. The students formed a viewpoint and presented their evidence in groups based on what viewpoint they chose. It enabled the students to get a broad overview of popular opinions in the United States at the time and to give them a broad perspective of the conflict.

The third video I watched was entitled Exploring Emigration: Maps and Migration. This video was on using maps and technology to show multiple migration routes. The lesson used the migration routes of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan during the second civil war in that country. The students used maps to draw out those routes. They would be called up to show those routes they drew on the smartboard for the class to see as a whole. They used maps such as topographical, climatic, and population density maps to further analyze the routes taken by the migrants. It was a way for students to dig deeper into the lesson and to come up with various explanations to some of the trials and tribulations of the migration by the "Lost Boys."

Here is a link to the third video: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-human-migration#

Flipped Learning

What is flipped learning and how can we implement it in the classroom? Flipped learning is where the teacher uses technology by putting lessons online for students to learn at home. By doing this it enables the student to be the master of the content. This enables the teacher to have students do the homework the next day in class. This enables teachers to see how effectively the students are progressing in the content area. These lessons can be shared via twitter, e-mail, or facebook. One of the benefits of flipped learning is that students can learn at their own pace. By having visuals and videos it can enhance the students learning and understanding of the content.

One of the benefits of flipped learning, according to Crystal Kirch, is that it enables her to work with individuals and small groups more effectively than taking away valuable time from students that are ready to progress. There is a video of Bill Nye talking about the advantages and disadvantages of flipped learning.

Some cons on flipped learning include the question from parents, "what if my child is watching the videos?" Many parents don't believe there is any real interaction between student and teacher. Proponents believe that all instruction should be within the classroom where children get the best opportunity of learning. At home there are many distractions including after school sports and activities, TV, video games, etc. Another con is that some students don't have access to the internet. Those are mostly students who live in poverty where the expense of a computer is a large burden on a family just making enough to fed and clothe the kids.

My personal opinion is that technology should be limited in the classroom. The use of laptops, PowerPoint, and smartboards are fine, but adding video and ipads is ridiculous. In school I learned best from teachers that taught in class. An effective teacher is someone who will be open to help any student with help in a content area and take time to help that student. I had that still were able to answer other students questions even in the time constraints of a class period. With the flipped classroom you can't expect an eleven to fourteen year old middle school student to go home and do the work on a computer. This something I believed should be geared towards junior and seniors in high school. With colleges using blackboard and D2L, it would give those students a hand of how to use those tools when they further their education.