Open Up

Conversations on Open Education for Language Learning

  • Home
  • About
  • Archive
  • COERLL website
    • About COERLL
    • COERLL Projects
    • COERLL Publications
    • COERLL Materials
    • COERLL Events
    • OER
      • OER Glossary
      • OER Intitiaves
      • COERLL OER Wiki
  • Donate to COERLL
  • Submissions
  • Contact Us

Department of Education proposes OER initiatives to directly impact teachers

December 16, 2015 Leave a Comment

Photo credit: flickr user opensource.com Creative Commons License

We at the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL) could not be happier about two new Department of Education initiatives that not only reinforce the work we do to create and disseminate high quality open instructional materials for language learning but also expand government support for Open Educational Resources (OER) across disciplines.

At the end of October 2015, officials at the Department of Education and in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy welcomed school superintendents, educators, technology representatives, and non-profit leaders to an Open Education Symposium in Washington DC. At that meeting, the Department of Education announced the launch of a new #GoOpen Challenge campaign aimed at encouraging the use of openly licensed educational materials and also proposed a new policy regulation that would require all copyrighted intellectual property created with the support of Department of Education grant funds to carry an open license. In a distinct move away from traditional textbooks, the Department of Education asserted the need for all students to have access to high quality open learning resources.

Added to the recent appointment of the first Open Education Advisor, Andrew Marcinek, the new Department of Education pledge demonstrates that the government is serious about raising OER awareness. This aligns with COERLL’s mission to offer open materials for language learning at low-to-no cost. Unlike traditional course materials, OER may be adjusted and improved to meet the needs of students of all backgrounds in all districts, even the most underfunded ones.

Not surprisingly, some are wondering what the impact of #GoOpen and its support of next generation materials will be for classroom teachers. Importantly, participating districts will save money by adopting low cost OER in place of expensive traditional textbooks. Additionally, teachers will no longer have to worry that they might be breaking the law by inadvertently using copyrighted educational resources in the wrong way. Certainly, as more educators participate in OER creation and dissemination, the sharing of innovative materials and ideas will increase. Teachers will also learn more about best practices and, as they contribute their own materials, gain greater visibility and professional recognition.

If you would like to express your views on the new Department of Education OER policy proposals, you can do so here until December 18. We’d also be curious to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Filed Under: OER initiatives Tagged With: #GoOpen, access, adoption, Andrew Marcinek, Department of Education, ED, government, OER, open educational resources, Sharing resources, White House

Find
Posts

Search by keywords

Popular categories

  • Badges
  • COERLL updates
  • Critical language study
  • Finding OER
  • Hybrid learning
  • Instructional Materials
  • Language Skills
  • Methods/Open educational practices (OEP)
  • MOOCs
  • OER initiatives
  • OER Research
  • Open education philosophy
  • Publishing OER
  • Remixing OER
  • Spanish
  • Teacher Development
  • Technology-based language learning
  • Uncategorized

Popular posts

  • 10 French Resources for Students Anywhere
  • BOLDD: At the Speed of Language
  • Re-Mixxer: Using French and German OER in The Mixxer
  • "We're Committed to Openness in Content Creation"
  • Activities for remote language teaching

Follow this
Blog

RSS Blog Feed
COERLL Facebook
COERLL Twitter

Subscribe2


 

Events

Upcoming COERLL events

    Join a Community of Open Language Educators!

    • Language OER Network
    • Heritage Spanish Community
    • Deutsch im Blick Facebook
    • Brazilpod Facebook

    Guest blog entries

    Submit a Topic

    Awarded Top 100 Language Learning Blog

    Awarded Top 100 Language Learning Blog

    Creative Commons License · COERLL · University of Texas at Austin

    We use cookies and external scripts to enhance your experience. By using this site you are accepting the use of such cookies.

    Privacy settings

    General cookie information

    This site uses cookies – small text files that are placed on your machine to help the site provide a better user experience. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information for things like shopping carts, and provide anonymized tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. As a rule, cookies will make your browsing experience better. However, you may prefer to disable cookies on this site and on others. The most effective way to do this is to disable cookies in your browser. We suggest consulting the Help section of your browser or taking a look at the About Cookies website which offers guidance for all modern browsers.

    Which cookies and scripts are used and how they impact your visit is specified on the left. You may change your settings at any time. Your choices will not impact your visit.

    Read the entire privacy policy.

    NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using.

    Google Analytics cookies

    We use cookies to analyze our website traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from use of their services. Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser. They make it possible for us to store your navigation habits, recognize your browser when you visit. It is possible to prevent cookies from being used in your browser by turning the feature off, but in order to make your experience better, your browser must be set to accept cookies.

    Powered by Cookie Information