Open Educational Resources
From reading this aricle, I learned that OER could greatly benefit the nature of schooling in the future. So what is OER? It is an online program to give students and instructors access to information and tools used to help facilitate learning. Spending money on college books and materials is costly (generally between $800-100 according to Fin Aid.org), OER could help cutting the costs of extra materials.
A few resources OER has to offer...
Free online course materials and information by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that I could use someday as a Teacher. It gives information on how to teach courses, what materials will be used, what material will be covered etc. I think it's great to have access to another school's specific courses, I believe it can really help facilitate in learning and to keep an overall objective secure all across the country.
I remember back in Elementary school doing different activities on the 100th day of school. This OER gives teachers of younger students ideas about which activities to do on the 100th day of school. I think it's very convenient to have; some teachers may not be as creative as others. Teachers can even incorporate math in the 100th day of school. On this website, it gives instructions on how to challenge younger students mathematically, give them a sheet of paper and tell them to come up with 100 ways to add up to 100 (ex: 1 + 99, 50+50 etc)
In this OER, it is a case study on abortion. Abortion is a controversial topic that is brought up a lot in today's society. I'm sure as my years in college progress I will have to write papers on the matter, as I have in high school. This resource gives multiple sources of information about abortion, the criteria of the case study, and a small play for the class. It can be very useful in middle school/high school classes which is exactly the age group I will be teaching.
Here's a little more information on OER by Emerging Ed Tech...
So, why promote Online Educational Resources? I think the better question is why not? It gives us students easy access to information as well as us as future teachers. I think it's a great way to promote learning, and it gives us a great variety of material. Check it out before you knock it, it can really be beneficial. For even more information, check out this website- it goes in depth of the benefits of OER.
When this blog was assigned, I had no idea what flipped learning was. I thought it was just another name for incorporating technology in the classroom. Giving myself some time to research, using my "handy-dandy" "BFF" GOOGLE, I've found out exactly what flipped learning is. A little about Flipped LearningInformation on Flipped Learning Are two sources I used to assess the meaning of flipped learning. Also, If you click on the picture to the right (or here), It will take you to a website (Provided by my professor) to explain how to flip a classroom. Anyways, back to the subject at hand, flipped learning might very well be used in classrooms everywhere come the next 5 to 10 years. Basically, a teacher or professor makes a video pertaining to a subject matter, whether it be an animation or a video of the teacher lecturing. It is then the student's job to tune into the video made by the instructor (that is most likely posted online), grasp and understand the video lesson being taught, and be prepared to talk about the lesson in class. This gives student's more of an opportunity to interact with the teacher; class time will be used going over the lesson rather than actually getting the lesson. Here is another website with embedded articles on flipped learning. Jon Bergman, a chemistry teacher in Woodland Park, Colorado has had a very successful flipped classroom. In this video, he explains how the learning method has helped him. He expresses that he can challenge students who are at different levels of understanding. "In this model of instruction, students watch recorded lectures for homework and complete their assignments, labs, and tests in class." -Jon Bergman from his (and Aaron Sams) novelFlip Your Classroom: Reaching Every Student in Every Class Every Day.
There are benefits to using the flip classroom, as well as disadvantages. The pros of using this method is as I've stated before, that the student's will have classroom time to engage in the lesson and to have one on one interaction with teacher. It provides more class time to do actual work, and that gives the students more of an opportunity to learn lessons on their own time, and use class time to grasp certain concepts, or whatever the teacher has instructed. It is also beneficial for students who may have missed class, they can just simply watch the videos, learn the material, and get caught up. It will be as if they never left the classroom. The disadvantages are that, due to the very high poverty rates, many students do not have access to a computer or internet at home. Also, a teacher really has no way of knowing if students will actually watch the videos. Yes, I am sure quizzes could be given to the students testing whether or not they understand the lesson, but at least if they teach the lesson in the classroom they know, without a doubt, that their student's have gotten the lesson taught to them.
A great tool for teachers to use to make a video for a Flipped Learning Lesson is Ted-Ed. Ted Ed is a video and animation editor that allows you to post and share videos among other teachers and students. It is a great connection for 'Flipped Teachers' to use, and it facilitates learning in a whole new way.
Someday, I am going to try and be very up-to-date with my teaching styles, and if a flipped learning lesson is going to be prominent, then I will for sure try and make my lesson plan as such. I would rather, however, make sure 100% that my students are learning what they need to learn. I would therefore be way more comfortable if I taught the lessons in the classroom. I feel as if you can reach children, help them, and interact with them just as much when teaching them lessons in the classroom. I feel as if flipped learning is too dependent upon technology, a student might as well be cyber schooled if they are simply learning the lessons via video. However, like I've said, if someday it's proven that Flipped Learning is more effective, then I will definitely accommodate to that method of teaching.
