Dive Brief:
- Most educators have built personal databases of educational resources, from presentations to handouts, but more are bringing those online to share with others.
- Open educational resources, or OERs, can promote collaboration and allow educators to customize resources for students.
- But making them work well can also be tricky: For one, everything in the databases must be open source, created by the educators, in order to steer clear of copyright violations.
Dive Insight:
The teacher-created databases are a parallel thread to the increasing market for commercial databases of education resources. As technological capabilities grow and the role of the teacher shifts, more emphasis is placed on ensuring teachers have access to a wide array of resources. Some districts are addressing that by contracting with third-party providers who offer enormous, and sometimes, costly catalogs of relevant tools and content.
OERs have the advantage of being free. But the grassroots nature of their creation can also diminish their usefulness, if they’re not managed well. According to eSchool News, administrators can help make sure all resources are tagged correctly so they are easy to find and it’s clear that the resources are openly available. Other tips include incorporating multimedia resources, not just written handouts, and reaching out to content creators who might be interested in pitching in.
