2017 VSTE Annual Conference

Open Educational Resources (OER) are free and openly licensed educational materials that can be used for teaching, learning, research, and other purposes. Educators can use, modify, and redistribute as necessary without copyright or cost restrictions. U.S. Dept. of Ed is running a #GoOpen campaign encouraging all educators in all districts and states to use openly licensed material in hopes of igniting change within the schools. The driving forces behind OER Commons is to prepare today’s educator with the highest quality resources by encouraging participation and co-creation. Here you can create an account to allow you to create OERs, discover OERs created by other educators, or connect with groups globally.

Digital resources found in OERs can be modified and used to create learning experiences tailored to individual student needs. OER lessons will be design by educators who have collaborated with other educators who are invested in having an open dialogue about the learning experiences of students globally.

Educators in today’s school must design lessons that meet needs of the interactive, digital-media saturated world that our students are growing up in. Today’s students will only know one way to research, watch videos, and consume information. Using OERs will allow educators access to high-quality, relevant materials, strengthen confidence in educators and students by allowing for ownership over teaching and learning, while remaining free to the educator.

Participants will learn about OERs and how to access them. Participants will feel empowered to utilize the resources available and change the way learning happens in their classrooms by SuperEmpowering kids and learning.