Thursday, April 26, 2012
OER - Open Educational Resources
I am excited about the opportunities that Open Educational Resources (OER) will
bring to the table. I find them very interesting and informative. I like how
they can be used by both teachers and students. The wealth of information that
is out there is/can be a bit overwhelming.
No matter what you are looking for I would have to think that there is a
resource dealing with just that. There are
many different sites that have OERs and OERs that cover just about everything.
As a learner I will use these resources to help me study. I found sites that you can group up withothers studying the same content and ask each other questions. I can see myself using these sites to look up
and adapt lesson plans for class assignments here at Edinboro. The sites that offer textbooks and resources
like that could potentially keep students from having to purchase books.
As a teacher I know I will use OERs to plan lessons and gather
information. The fact that a lot of
sites with open resources have tried, tested and approved the materials is a
big bonus. I am in awe of the amount of
information and the wide range of topics that the sites I looked at
covered. The sharing of resources from
one educator to another just makes sense.
I am annoyed by educators who think their material should only be used
by them. If you got something good…share
it!
I think these resources can benefit students by lumping similar content
together. It will allow them to view
different resources that are related to each other without having to do a new
google search every time. Research will
be made easier.
I can see real benefits to Open Educational
Resources. While most of them are online
school districts and even teaming groups can benefit from this same principal
of sharing information. Making “what
works well” available to the masses will only benefit schools, teachers and
students. Teachers have a huge
opportunity to make a difference, and not just in their own classroom.
I am excited to use/benefit from Open Educational
Resources!
Some of the neat and useful sites I found are:
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
I believe...
I believe a good teachers can make a difference in the lives of their students…
For some students, their teachers can play a major role in where their lives take them. Their teachers can either catapult them into a successful life or cause them to fall into one of the many ruts along the way.
I was a student that many teachers didn’t look forward to having in class. As my parents would say “Lee wasn’t a bad kid…he was just busy.” Throughout middle school I was the student who gave gray hairs and caused teachers to long for the end of the day. I was never in my seat and I always wanted to be in the middle of everything. The way I see it my teachers had a choice to make. They could either look at my energy as a negative and write me off as a problem kid, which a select few definitely did, or they could try to harness my energy and turn it into a desire for learning. Fortunately for me I had far more teachers who cared about me and wanted to see me succeed.
My teachers gave me a chance. They cared about me enough to make sure that I had every opportunity possible to succeed. They saw me as a kid with potential rather than an energetic kid they had to deal with. Because I had teachers who were willing to give me a chance, I became the student and the person I am today.
A teacher can drastically change their students futures. We have to realize that our influence on students goes far beyond the classroom. Whether we realize it or not, the students in our classrooms rely on us to be there for them. For some students we may be the only stable adult figure in their lives, and if we write them off as everyone else has then they have no one left. If we always judge a book by its cover then we miss out on everything that book has to offer. The same goes for our students. We have to dig deep into the lives of our students in order to find the potential that lies within.
We are not just teaching content to our students, we are molding lives and creating futures. One teacher can changes the lives of many students. All we have to do is give our students a chance.
For some students, their teachers can play a major role in where their lives take them. Their teachers can either catapult them into a successful life or cause them to fall into one of the many ruts along the way.
I was a student that many teachers didn’t look forward to having in class. As my parents would say “Lee wasn’t a bad kid…he was just busy.” Throughout middle school I was the student who gave gray hairs and caused teachers to long for the end of the day. I was never in my seat and I always wanted to be in the middle of everything. The way I see it my teachers had a choice to make. They could either look at my energy as a negative and write me off as a problem kid, which a select few definitely did, or they could try to harness my energy and turn it into a desire for learning. Fortunately for me I had far more teachers who cared about me and wanted to see me succeed.
My teachers gave me a chance. They cared about me enough to make sure that I had every opportunity possible to succeed. They saw me as a kid with potential rather than an energetic kid they had to deal with. Because I had teachers who were willing to give me a chance, I became the student and the person I am today.
A teacher can drastically change their students futures. We have to realize that our influence on students goes far beyond the classroom. Whether we realize it or not, the students in our classrooms rely on us to be there for them. For some students we may be the only stable adult figure in their lives, and if we write them off as everyone else has then they have no one left. If we always judge a book by its cover then we miss out on everything that book has to offer. The same goes for our students. We have to dig deep into the lives of our students in order to find the potential that lies within.
We are not just teaching content to our students, we are molding lives and creating futures. One teacher can changes the lives of many students. All we have to do is give our students a chance.
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