Building Open Education Learning Ecosystems Presented By: Cheryl Capozzoli Ed. Consultant/CAIU School Board Director/Newport School District

TODAY’S GOALS Identify and explore Open Ed. Resources Organize ideas and possible OER solutions Create steps and rationale for implementing OERs Build internal organizational capacity Learn how to begin building 21 st Century Open Learning Ecosystems

“Too few schools are exploiting digital instructional content for all of its benefits. Many in education continue to perpetuate the decades-old textbook-centric use of instructional materials. The gap is widening between what technology allows us to do in our lives; communicate, work, learn, and play and how we’re educating our kids. Fletcher, G., Schaffhauser, D, & Levin, D.

21 st Century Learning Where do you go to learn something new? How do you find answers to questions? Who provides the information? What’s the quality and quantity of information? When can you access the information? Why do you choose to learn this way?

OPEN EDUCATION RESORCES Open Educational Resources (OER) are learning content that’s freely available to reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. (4R’s) Open Educational Resources A framework for universal access to learning Free licenses to education tools and resources The desire to learn does not cost anything FREE!

From: OER Metaphor

OER MYTHS Poor quality Hidden costs Developers have sinister or shady motives Illegal resource sharing Cause viruses Not compatible with other paid services Too difficult to implement Not worth the effort

COST OF OWNERSHIP/USE Direct Costs - Shifting $$ – Open Resources = Free – Digital devices – lease or purchase options Indirect Costs – Tech. Maintenance - labor – Network upgrades – Training and support – Content planning and development

WHY OER? On Demand Access - 24/7 teaching and learning Locally relevant content options for curriculum/instruction Customization, personalization and variability for teachers and learners Extended Learning - mobility and flexibility Decreased cost for instructional resources Frequently updated resources Increased cost for PD and digital devices/infrastructure Learning goes beyond the brick and mortar

ROI Increased internal capacity Funds are spent on learning tools that enhance learning options – General Budget, Title I, eRate, IDEA funds, Grants – Infrastructure – Capital Reserve funds Funds distributed to greater areas of need Creative and local customization of course offerings and content Content is up-to-date and flexible 21 st Century learner-centered environments

WHAT RESOURCES? Open Online Productivity Suites – Google Apps Textbooks Curriculum/Lesson Plans Interactive supplemental resources Course Management Systems – K-20+ Virtual Field Trips Professional Development Student Management Systems

PLANNING IS ESSENTIAL Weighing the Options – Costs – direct and indirect – Infrastructure and accessibility – BYOT/BYOD – Teacher and Tech Staff Knowledge and Skills Curriculum/Instruction Needs – Who needs to be involved – Curriculum/Technology Directors, consultants – Training and support (tech. dept. teachers, students) Equity in Accessibility – Universal Access – Blended learning – School/Home access

SYSTEMS DESIGN MODEL Comprehensive District and School Level Planning Analysis – evaluate the needs within schools/district, prioritize needs Design – Collaborative approach to designing an effective plan (1, 3, 5, 10+ years) Develop – Create action plans and steps to set the plan in motion Implement – Implementation timeline – who, what, when, where, how – run test pilots Evaluate – Review, revise and expand initiative See the planning template

EXAMPLE - MOOCs Massive Open Online Courses On demand learning Participatory

OPEN COURSEWARE Open Courseware Consortium (OCW) MIT Open Courseware Consortium (OCWMIT Coursera Udacity Udemy edX P2PU Sophia Carnegie Mellon Univ. Open Learning Initiative iTunes U Open tools for creating open online or cloud based learning environments. Customize and remix for personalized learning options for students.

CURRICULUM/INSTRUCTION Curriki – online curriculum share and save Curriki CAST – Universal Design edu. resources CAST MERLOT – Multimedia resources MERLOT Concord Consortium – tools and resources Concord Consortium Scitable – a collaborative Science learning space Scitable Saylor – Online learning portal for many courses Saylor NSDL – National Science Digital Library NSDL Geogebra – digital tool for Geometry Geogebra Khan Academy – Online portal for Math, Science … Khan Academy Common Sense Media – Digital Citizenship Curriculum Common Sense Media iCivics – free civics curriculum/lessons iCivics SmartHistory – free history resources SmartHistory Free curriculum and instructional resources to build, support and enhance up-to-date standards aligned curriculum and instruction

ONLINE LEARNING PORTALS Moodle – Course Management System Moodle SAKAI – Open social learning platform SAKAI NROC – National Repository of Online Courses NROC Edmodo – Social learning platforms Edmodo Open Study – Study with students from around the world Open Study Open tools for creating school level online classroom learning environments. Customize and remix for personalization.

TEXTBOOKS CK12 Flexbooks Flatworld Knowledge Bloomsbury Academic Connexions Project Gutenburg and Feedbooks - Literature Project GutenburgFeedbooks Bookboon ICDL – Children’s Digital Library ICDL iTunes U Open Library Open Textbooks Ibiblio The Book Depository The National Academy Press Customize and remix online texts for personalized learning options.

OPEN PRODUCTIVITY Google Apps in Education Evernote – Notes on the go Evernote Dropbox – online cloud storage Dropbox Zoho – free office in the cloud Zoho Kindle Readers – no need to buy the Kindle Kindle Readers

Professional Learning Communities (PLC) Just in Time PD Learning isn’t just for the kids, teachers must continue to perfect their skills. Online professional networks continue to provide relevant and timely professional development opportunities for educators. Classroom 2.0 ASCD Edge, EduCore ASCD EdgeEduCore Teaching Channel ePals iEARN Skype in Education GCF Learn Free

CONSIDERATIONS NEXT STEPS 1.Vision, Mission, Core Beliefs??? 2.Open discussions with District Leadership – Ask Why or Why not? 3.Leveraging existing options and removing barriersLeveraging existing options 4.Policy updates 5.Planning and Pilots – Find early adopters 6.Build 21 st Century School Imp. Initiatives 7.Infrastructure and digital device analysis 8.Copyrighting Content – SmartCopySmartCopy

Now You Know…. What’s Your Next Step??

CONSULTATION Research OER with an Instructional Specialist Cheryl Capozzoli More Resources and Info. Web20Guru