Online educational content pertains to learning materials that can be accessed on the web. These materials may include textbooks, educational videos and journal articles (OER Africa, n.d.). Educational resources are automatically copyrighted when they are created (OER Africa, n.d.). This means individuals are restricted from using those materials unless they receive permission from the owner (OER Africa, n.d.).
By open licensing educational resources, the author is giving permission for others to access, re-use and redistribute their resources, under the condition that the user of the content attributes the author (OER Africa, n.d.). The most used open licences are Creative Commons Licenses (OER Africa, n.d.).
If an educational resource carries an open licence, it is classified as an open educational resource (OER). This means it can be used freely by others (OER Africa, n.d.).
Curriki is an example of a digital library of open educational resources that can be accessed by students, parents and teachers worldwide. Curriki aims to “eliminate the education divide” by improving accessibility to high quality education (Curriki, n.d.). I have used this website when I worked as a tutor, to gain inspiration from lesson plans designed by other teachers. Those lesson plans can be classified as OERs, as individuals posting their material on Curriki permit free use of their content. All content attached to the Curriki repository are shared under a “Creative Commons Non-commercial Attribution license, as determined by the author or contributor” (Curriki, n.d.).
The “Facualty Guide for Evaluating Open Educational Resources” examines OERs in the areas of relevance, accuracy, production quality, accessibility, interactivity and licensing (OER Africa, n.d.). Curriki allows users to access materials from different subjects and grade levels, so users are free to chose material from their desired category. Curriki claims to pre-screen and review materials, so accuracy should not be a concern (Curriki, n.d.). The Curriki website is easy to navigate, as a search engine is provided. In terms of interactivity, Curriki allows authors to incorporate multimedia such as videos to enhance learning. Video quality seems to be clear, however videos do not offer options for subtitles, which may be an accessibility issue.
Over the years, educators have recognized the importance of considering different learning styles when developing lesson plans. For some students, reading a textbook may be the best way to internalize new information. Others learn best from seeing and listening, therefore they may benefit from video animations and audio recordings. I believe OERs can be extremely helpful in providing students and teachers with different formats of educational resources that can be accessed freely and easily on the web. Students can seek resources that suit their learning styles and educators are able to learn from each other by sharing ideas and materials.
As a Health Informatics major, I am interested in how OERs can be used to provide health education to the public. For instance, In Canada, the mission to prevent chronic disease forms an important part of the public health agenda. I can envision using an educational website with embedded videos and quizzes to communicate risk-factor reduction methods to the public. Resources on a website like this will benefit from an open licence, as it will enable teachers to incorporate such materials into their health curriculum.
References:
Curriki. (n.d.). About Curriki. Retrieved from Curriki: https://www.curriki.org/about-curriki-2
OER Africa. (n.d.). What is Open Content? Retrieved from OER Africa: https://www.oerafrica.org/book/what-open-content
OER Africa. (n.d.). What is Open Licensing? Retrieved from OER Africa: https://www.oerafrica.org/book/what-open-licensing
OER Africa. (n.d.). How to Evaluate Open Content? Retrieved from OER Africa: https://open.bccampus.ca/files/2014/07/Faculty-Guide-22-Apr-15.pdf
images retrieved from: https://www.curriki.org/