Welcome to this weeklong discussion about how to improve awareness of and access to OERs (Open Education Resources) for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) instruction. OERs are digital teaching and learning materials of all types, including text, videos, games, and assessments that are freely available and adaptable for use in any educational setting for all types of learners.
Dena Fisher and I (Delphinia Brown) work on a new project funded by OVAE: Open Education Resources to Support Adult STEM Teaching and Learning. We will moderate this discussion, November 5 – 9. We hope to learn more about how adult educators are using OERs to use this information to develop a communication plan for building interest in STEM among adult educators and sharing information about the training and instructional resources created through the project.
Thank you in advance for participation in this discussion. We look forward to learning about your experiences with OERs and STEM instruction!
Respond to the following discussion questions to join the conversation:
What is your awareness of OERs and how they can be used to support instruction?
Have you used OERs to teach math or science, or for other instructional purposes? If so, which types of OERs do you use and how did you find them?
If you haven’t used OERs as part of STEM instruction, would you? Which types of OERs would you be most likely to use and why (examples: lesson plans, assessments, videos, labs)?
What information do you need to know about how to use OERs effectively? Where would you go to find this information?
Comments
... I don't use many OER because we've got Modumath here, and I havent' found an OER that has both instruction and interaction with good feedback (which Modumath does). I do work with students in Science classes and we use all kinds of assorted INternet sites and work with the students to learn how to search for the right key terms and how to recognize a site that will meet their needs. Sometimes we do find a site that's interactive and instructional (tho' usually it's anatomy so it's mostly naming body parts). However, my actual job description is working with students in pre-college level courses so the math is where I focus.
Most of my students really focus on learning the procedures prescribed by their course's curriculum, so they would want to find a resource with the same structure and sequence.
I'd loev to hear what others have found. I like David Rosen's skill-by-skill breakdown and plan to peruse it more closely....
I am always interested in learning about what David Rosen is doing. I must have missed the a posting describing his 'skill by skill breakdown". Any suggestions where I may locate that information?
Thank you for your help!
Dkubiak
His email to the LINCS list went like this: (
Hello DKubiak and others who may be interested,
You will find the free 21-page list of numeracy and math videos suitable for ABE, ASE and HSE students in a dropbox at this web address
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/6715575/ABE%20AND%20ASE_HSE_GED%20Math%20Videos%208.21.12.docx
You may, as Susan Jones suggested, also be interested in free numeracy and math web sites I have listed on The Literacy List. To find that, go to
http://www.newsomeassociates.com
Scroll down to "Publications" at the bottom of the page
Select "The Literacy List"
Select Websites for Teachers and Adult Learners
Select Numeracy/Mathematics .
I am providing the information this way because there are other publications on this web site, and within The Literacy List other web pages, that may also be of interest.
Let me know if you have a problem accessing any link on either the numeracy and math videos list or The Literacy List. Also, I like teachers' suggestions for additions to either of these lists.That's how they got to be be useful, and how they can be improved. Please email me yours.
David J. Rosen
djrosen123@gmail.com
Thank you, Connie, for taking the time to comment. One of our goals for this project is to help direct educators to OERs so that they can use them in the ways you've described. Would you mind sharing the names of a few of the OER web sites or tools that you use?
Thanks for your interest! I wouldn’t say that I have a favorite source; it depends on what I am doing with the class. I will describe the OERs in one of my units as an example to answer your question. My repertoire of tried-and-true lessons includes a Gelato-Themed Bar and Circle Graph unit. (I have to give credit for the basis of this idea to Dr. Lynda Ginsberg for her workshop on “The Components of Numeracy.”) I poll the students as they arrive for class. “What’s your favorite flavor of gelato (or ice cream)?” They answer on a sticky note and post it. We turn their responses into a bar graph and watch a video from www.TheFuturesChannel.com called “Ice Cream the Italian Way” that features the Ciao Bella Gelato Company’s production in action. …After experiencing creating bar graphs and turning them into circle graphs, we use a website called Create a Graph (http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/) to further our understanding of graphing. This is the only site I use that says “Kids” on it; I don’t like that, but the site seems to be the best of its kind. Toward the end of the unit, we look at a recipe for homemade gelato and a photo of a gelato shop’s pricing board that I got from the internet. I bring in samples of different size containers (1 cup, 1 pint, 1 quart, etc.) to help them construct word problems for each other that use the information in the recipe and photo. Lastly, we use the distributer’s list of available flavors and case/pallet information from the Ciao Bella site to plan our own gelato shop. So, I guess that three of the ‘instructional materials’ I have mentioned were never intended to be instructional materials by their creators (recipe, pricing board, distributer information). Also, for the most part the OERs supplement my units, not inspire them or become the unit.
I went to watch it and it says "available by subscription." Is the subscription free? (It doesn't say; just asks for a bunch of information for me to submit to find out more.)
Hi Susan! You must be referring to www.thefutureschannel.com. Several years ago, I did a one month free trial that allowed me to access the video. At that time, there was an option to download the videos. I have them on a jump drive so that I do not have to rely on internet access at any of the sites where my classes are held. The Futures Channel website has greatly improved since then, but I don't know if any changes were made to the option to download. It was worth the time I spent watching these videos; I found quite a few that had the concepts for which I was searching. If anyone prefers a more scripted approach, they also offer a variety of sample lesson plans to go with each video. I never came across anything that printed with grade levels, although they are offered. Nothing I came across seemed childish in any way; I liked that. My students seem to enjoy the videos. :-)Connie
I may see if I can do the free trial just to see how they address concepts, btu I wouldn't consider a month free trial as OER...
I understand your point of view. It is free, but obviously not as easily accessible as web pages that are open any time you type in the address. Still, I do own a perfectly legal, free copy of the video that I use in an educational setting. I will post another example that does not require any registration.
An OER by definition is both (1) free and (2) openly licensed, which means that it can be reused, modified, and/or shared without copyright restriction, making the resource customizable. The need for a paid subscription to access the video Connie referenced means the resource is not an OER. You're more likely to find an OER in an online repository such as OERcommons.org where everything is free and openly licensed. With videos, as with all other education resources, if they're not openly licensed then they're not really "open". I don't have a subscription to the service, so I can't confirm whether the videos are copyrighted, but I suspect that they are...That is not to say that there is not value in resources such as the gelato video, which may be perfect the way it is as an enhancement to or integral piece of Connie's lesson on graphing. (By the way, reading about it really made me wish it was warm enjoy gelato right now).
The beauty of OERs is that they are customizable. Fortunately, the thousands of K-12 OERs that are geared towards children can be "remixed" so that the resources resonate with your adult learners. Most of the OERs I've seen are K-12 oriented, so the ability customize should be underscored and is something that we hope to help adult education instructors be able to do as part of this project.
I am posting another example because my first examples included a site that required a free trial. I recently wrote up a new lesson that I plan to teach next semester. I start by referring to the USGS web site and telling the students, “Drips from a leaky faucet can come in different sizes, but the United States’ Geological Survey (USGS) calculates that approximately ¼ milliliter (mL) is wasted with every drop.” “How much is ¼ mL?” We take predictions and I show them my mini measuring cup that starts off with 10 mL. We create an in/out table to compare drips to mL of water wasted. … jumping to the OERs… I play a series of videos posted by Dan Meyer that can be found at: http://threeacts.mrmeyer.com/leakyfaucet/ with instruction, more tables, and graphs in between. (btw, if you haven’t heard of him, check out: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover.html) Near the end of the mini-unit, we will visit the calculator at http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/sc4.html setting the “Number of Homes” to one and the “Number of Faucets in Homes” to one.
Thanks for sharing another example. Have you ever or have you considered posting your lessons to a site like OER commons?
I had never even heard the term OER before the call for OER User Group members! Thank you for the resource, OERCommons.org. I will check it out.
I guess I hadn't ever considered posting to an open site such as this because my lesson plans tend to be notes for me, rather than formal lesson plans. They are detailed, but I don't write down the connections to the standards, etc. in my description. I don’t know that they “speak for themselves” without an explanation from me. I have, however, shared my notes in smaller discussion groups. I think it can be difficult/tedious to sift through plans at a site like this to find lessons that are 1) age and level appropriate, 2) the math topic which I'm seeking, 3) quality plans, and 4) fit my teaching style. I haven't used an entire lesson from anyone else's idea that I found on the internet.
My first response to this site is frustration that I can’t figure out how to further narrow the search after making my first selection. I will look at the site more closely and consider adding to an idea to the mix.
I’m fond of the Annenberg Learner courses (http://www.learner.org/index.html). My favorite is: Mathematics Illuminated (http://www.learner.org/courses/mathilluminated/about/index.php). There are numerous math titles and learned levels to choose from in their catalog (http://www.learner.org/catalog/catalog_web_mathematics.pdf). You and your students can view video on demand (Vod) by selecting a program from the list (http://www.learner.org/resources/browse.html) and clicking on the VoD icon to view a particular program.
Thanks for contributing to this discussion of OERs
Thank you all for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences with us last week. You contributions to the discussion have added to our understanding of how open education resources (OERs) can be used to support STEM instruction and learning. Stay tuned to LINCS for more information about opportunitites to learn more about OERs and STEM.