Open Educational Resources (OE) are free, legally-available resources for learning and teaching, which represent a major paradigm change in the teaching and learning environment than traditional approaches to education. OERs are available as electronic or video formats, which can be easily accessed via a computer, Laptop/Mobile Phone, handheld PDA, Web browser, or other media player. There is an emerging “enessentials” learning approach, which is based on the” Ubiquitous Learning Approach”, which has been applied in various contexts (e.g., e-books, online learning scenarios, etc.). The aim is to offer ready access to an endless variety of educational opportunities, which will provide educators and students with the opportunity to learn and perform with almost any modality: visual, auditory, aural, text, numerical, or multi-media, with virtually unlimited combinations thereof.
The Open Education Resources (OE) initiative was launched by the National Standards for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (NSTA) in 2021. Since then, many nations across the globe have adopted the initiative, which is in line with the International Children’s Study (ICTS) and other International Standards for English. Now, most of the higher education institutions in the United States have come into line and embrace the OER initiative. Many states across the country are also implementing the new requirements. In essence, therefore, it is important for teachers across the nation to understand the importance of the Open Educational Resources.
With the rise of technology, there are now more opportunities than ever to pursue educational opportunities via online teaching and learning. However, despite the availability of more technological tools that facilitate learning online, there are still those who would prefer to learn in the traditional classroom settings. In order to broaden the educational opportunities available to students, some of the states in the U.S. are requiring students to have certain licenses to use certain educational resources offered on the web. However, what is really meant by these licenses?
The term “licensing” is typically used to describe the process by which professionals get recognized in the field. In fact, you will see a lot of professionals who are employed at various educational establishments claiming to be licensed or otherwise having an authority in the field of science. These people may be affiliated to professional associations or organizations, but what they do is not professional science – they are not licensed to teach or research in the field. There are some who claim to be the expert in various fields, but their qualifications do not match what you call the “common core state science standards”.
One aspect of the OER initiative is the establishment of the commons, which is a non-profit organization that promotes quality public access to educational content. The idea behind the commons is to provide quality, open educational resources to the citizenry. The idea behind the OER initiative is to standardize the teaching of science in the United States. In other words, we are standardizing the content that educators across the country will use to teach kids in the classroom.
This is a very big deal because there is a very strong trend that our nation is falling behind in terms of technological development and there are many people who believe that this gap is going to continue to widen. Indeed, many education experts have acknowledged that the United States has lagged far behind other countries when it comes to promoting educational quality and making the teaching process more effective. This is why the “creative commons” idea is such a big deal for advocates of the Common Core State Standards. They want to make sure that all educational content and teaching methods will be aligned with the Common Core standards.
What does this mean for teachers? In order to help ensure that there is uniform educational practice across the United States, it means that we will need to develop uniform content for all states and local districts. In fact, the LA School Supervisors filed suit against two school systems because they do not share enough information about their academic practices. If this trend continues, it will be much more difficult for teachers to provide meaningful assistance to students.
The “creative commons” idea is really important to me because it means that we will be able to standardize the way that all educational practices are taught across the country. However, what makes this even more important is the fact that the new K12 standards will be developed using an open standards process that ensures that all citizens can review and comment on them. This means that everyone will have a chance to improve the standards and get them in line with what students really need to know. This is a very encouraging development and one that will ensure that the standards used in the new K12 National Curriculum will be completely aligned with what students need to succeed in higher education.