OER

Open Educational Resources (OER) include e-textbooks, videos, animation, rubrics, simulations, assessments, and any other tools that support teaching and learning. In general, OER are in the public domain, open, free, and may be used and modified. Specific definitions from SETDA, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and UNESCO are in SETDA’s Quality Content Guide. With appropriate licensing, OER can have a significant impact on teaching and learning. Teachers using OER are able to find free materials appropriately licensed and then choose materials from various sources to meet the needs of their students. In some cases, teachers may wish to change the OER to create a new resource and share that resources with others. Students can also create OER to share with their peers. When using OER, states, districts, schools, educators, and students need to have a basic understanding of the copyright and licensing laws.

Copyright

Refers to the ownership of intellectual property. Copyright automatically attaches to the author when work is created. Work is any form of expression that reflects minimal creativity by the author including lesson plans, animations, and rubrics.

Licensing

Refers to permission for others to use or to share this intellectual property without the copyright owner relinquishing its ownership.

Quality Content Guide

Learn more about OER in SETDA’s Quality Content Guide, including locating, remixing, creating and curating OER. You can also find out more about #GoOpen.

Quality

Definitions for digital instructional materials may vary somewhat from one professional organization to the next, yet, all agree that quality materials should be robust materials aligned to learning standards, accessible by all students, whether they are full course materials or supplemental materials, open or all rights reserved copyright.

SETDA Definition

Quality instructional materials are content-rich materials aligned to standards that are fully accessible and free from bias. They support sound pedagogy and balanced assessment to help teachers understand and interpret student performance. Quality Instructional Materials must be:

• Aligned to state, district, and building learning standards as measured by widely-accepted evaluation tools.
• Current, relevant, and accurate content that is user friendly, fully accessible for all learners, and free from bias.

Full-course, core instructional material should:

• Emphasize the key areas of focus within each course, addressing the progression of learning skills, and vertically articulating content with other courses to ensure coherence.
• Support differentiated learning behaviors and include resources for students who struggle and opportunities for students to be challenged.
• Include a balanced assessment strategy to help teachers understand and interpret student performance.
• Incorporate technology, where appropriate, that supports quality teaching and learning.

Additional Sample Definitions of Quality Instructional Materials: http://qualitycontent.setda.org/planning/#quality-materials

Quality Content Guide

Visit SETDA’s Quality Content Guide to learn more about how to launch and maintain vetting processes for the selection of quality instructional materials aligned to standards. Key considerations, questions and helpful hints are included throughout the guide

Digital Citizenship

As we implement learning in the digital age, there is an increasing need to foster conversation about the responsibility that students, teachers, parents and education leaders have in the digital space.

• Digital citizenship establishes a set of norms and practices regarding appropriate and responsible technology use. Digital citizenship requires a whole-community approach to thinking critically, behaving safely, and participating responsibly online. – Ed Tech Developer’s Guide
• “Digital Citizenship is more than just a teaching tool; it is a way to prepare students/technology users for a society full of technology. Digital citizenship is the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use.” – Digital Citizenship, Using Technology Appropriately
• Nearly all of ISTE Standards address digital citizenship as one of the aspects of education technology that all members of a school or district should support. Essentially, the standards focus on the safe, legal and ethical use of technology in schools. – ISTE Standards
• Digital Citizen: Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical. 2016 ISTE Standards for Students

Key Elements of Digital Citizenship

• Digital access: Advocating for equal digital rights and access is where digital citizenship starts.
• Digital etiquette: Rules and policies aren’t enough — we need to teach everyone about appropriate conduct online.
• Digital law: It’s critical that users understand it’s a crime to steal or damage another’s digital work, identity or property.
• Digital communication: With so many communication options available, users need to learn how to make appropriate decisions.
• Digital literacy: We need to teach students how to learn in a digital society.
• Digital commerce: As users make more purchases online, they must understand how to be effective consumers in a digital economy.
• Digital rights and responsibilities: We must inform people of their basic digital rights to privacy, freedom of speech, etc.
• Digital safety and security: Digital citizens need to know how to protect their information from outside forces that might cause harm.
• Digital health and wellness: From physical issues, such as repetitive stress syndrome, to psychological issues, such as internet addiction, users should understand the health risks of technology.

Facilitator Guide

The Facilitator Guide – Digital Citizenship provides education leaders with the information and resources they need to conduct a professional learning session around digital citizenship. Participants will:

• Learn more about digital citizenship
• Discover best practices from peers
• Discuss how your school/district is addressing digital citizenship
• Explore resources used by other schools/districts
• Develop and maintain relationships with other district and state leaders

• Facilitator Guide – Digital Citizenship Slides

Selection

There’s a growing body of research finding that instructional materials can have as large an impact on student outcomes as teacher quality or reduced class size. Developing a process for the selection and implementation of quality instructional materials is more important than ever with the growing number of available resources for both core courses and supplemental materials. Options may include a full core course replacement for a specific content area or supplemental materials to support the core materials.

Key Considerations

• Assemble a review team
• Review existing course content
• Select materials
• Curate materials

Quality Content Guide

Learn more about best practices for selecting quality instructional materials, aligned to standards for both core curriculum and supplemental materials in SETDA’s Quality Content Guide. Find rubrics and tools used by states, districts, and schools for the evaluation instructional materials.