If you aren’t familiar, OER are materials used for teaching and learning that are free from copyright restrictions or are publicly licensed for anyone to use, adapt, and redistribute. One example of an open license is Creative Commons.

I got interested in this area because of the need to be able to modify and “remix” materials in order to differentiate instruction, using tools like netbooks….and also out of a disillusionment with how much money is spent on textbooks that often aren’t even used.

I am working on a new project now to look at the feasibility of producing a core curriculum offering that is open-licensed. It could be distributed in a variety of formats, including print and electronic. Initially, we are looking at middle school math as a content area.

As a part of this, we are gathering ideas from teachers and administrators on what they’d like to see in a product like this. We want to talk with administrators and teachers to get their ideas to make sure that this new OER product meets their needs.

If you are interested, email me at Karen AT k12opened DOT com. Thank you.

The post New open educational resources project appeared first on K12 Handhelds.

Recently, the Indiana State Board of Education issued “An Open Letter to Indiana Educators about Textbooks, Computers and Instructional Materials” (worth a read if you haven’t already) that said essentially that textbooks are not effective or engaging. It went on to encourage schools to pursue technology-based or other instructional materials in lieu of textbooks and to request waivers to use textbook funding for this purpose. They even specifically mention “content-loaded mini-laptops.”

Wow!

This is a very bold and laudable step. I hope that schools will take advantage of this and that other states will follow suit.

The post Could mobile tech finally be positioned to replace textbooks? appeared first on K12 Handhelds.

• We must differentiate instruction if we are going to engage and reach students who have increasingly diverse backgrounds, skills, and interests.
• Textbooks are not an effective tool for differentiating (or engaging) students.
• Technology can be a better tool, but high quality content is required for effective integration.
• There is a huge industry that has grown up around the development and adoption of textbooks. There is a lot of money invested in this industry, and it is not likely to change, regardless of the benefits to learning.
• Open educational resources (OER) provide a new approach to this challenge.

So after my presentation, a very excited teacher came up to me and said, “I’ve done just what you’ve said! I’ve thrown out our textbooks!” (He told me later that they actually sold their textbooks. Great idea for a fund-raiser!)

He then went out to his car and brought back the materials he’s developed to share with me. He is a history teacher and has developed a very innovative system that he calls the “dynamic classroom.” It involves binders that the kids construct over the course of the year, bringing together predictable learning routines, effective strategies, and hands on activities.

What most struck me in talking to this gentleman was 1.) his passion for his subject matter and for teaching, 2.) how much personal time and effort he’s put into his teaching, and 3.) the results he’s gotten with his students.

Then I started thinking about the potential of this approach. The materials appeared to be perfectly suited to building a wiki. I began imagining each kid with a $300 laptop building interactive web sites instead of binders. The possibilities are rich. Then I started thinking about this project built as an open-licensed curriculum. Everyone could benefit from the work this industrious teacher has done.

I know that there are teachers all over the world doing creative things like this, prompting their students to have rich learning experiences. These teachers know more about their content and engaging kids than most textbook publishers do. I think that most of these teachers are willing to share.

This is the potential of Open Education.
———-
Image courtesy of Alexander Baxevanis.

The post Throwing out the textbooks appeared first on K12 Handhelds.

This had gotten me thinking a lot about a couple topics:

1. How electronic resources can be more effective than textbooks to engage kids and especially to differentiate instruction

2. How the future of 1-to-1 computing for schools is shaping up

I think that both of these are critical if we’re going to be successful in engaging kids. I’ll write more about the first topic in another post. Regarding the second topic, there are a lot of new devices shipping, including things like the XO computer, the Eee, the Kindle, the iPod Touch, etc.

I think the keys to a solid device for education are:

– Low cost (under $300 seems to be a key price point for schools)
– Long battery life (at least 6 hours)
– Multimedia capability (audio and video)
– Capacity for “real” computing (word processing, spreadsheets, presentation — could be via Web 2.0)

There are other features that I’d rate as nice-to-have but not essential like wireless, color, durability, etc.

None of the devices above quite hits all of my “must-have” features, but they are all pretty close. The second-generation releases are likely to be there. Right now, the Eee is probably the closest, though the Kindle is the one that has my attention (in part because I think it may have the longest staying power, which is really critical to schools.) Interestingly, handhelds from Palm and HP — which have been around for years — already have all these features. Alas, though, they are no longer the latest and greatest. (Don’t get me started venting my frustration on how trend-driven technology is, even in schools.)

Some people have said that these devices are too limited for schools because there isn’t textbook content available for them. The more I think about the idea of textbook publishers putting their content on mobile devices though (something I used to look forward to, though it’s probably still a long ways off), the more I don’t think it’s the road to a better future. It’s easy to list reasons textbooks don’t work for most kids — they are huge; they are boring; there is no differentiation; there is little interactivity; the content isn’t comprehensible; etc. etc.

So why would we want that same content in an electronic format?

The post New ways to look at content and 1:1 appeared first on K12 Handhelds.

The post Effectiveness of textbooks? appeared first on K12 Handhelds.

I had just presented a session at which I’d made the claim that textbooks aren’t very useful to most students today. (And I worked in textbook publishing for almost 10 years, so you can imagine how much it hurts me to say that.) On the other hand, my view on Wikipedia has shifted over the last year or so. I now think it is a pretty good resource.

Then on my way to work this morning, I heard a piece on NPR called “A Look at How the U.S. Understanding of its Own History Changes.” It traced the treatment of the Mexican-American war by textbooks over time. As you might imagine, it varied considerably. (Heck, we can’t even agree on the cause of the war we’re in right now.)

So, what does all this mean? Perhaps that no one source of information, including textbooks, should be considered to be “authoritative.” Some of the most important things we can teach kids in this age of information are to be critical information consumers, to use multiple sources, and not to treat anything as unquestional “fact.”

The post Textbooks appeared first on K12 Handhelds.