Open Educational Resources (OER) provide a wealth of materials that further develop and enrich an educator’s storehouse of instructional materials. While our access to these resources are at no cost, finding them can prove challenging. Where can we access the most effective and reliable databases? How can we ensure the quality of the OERs we are considering for our own instruction?

In this Micro-MOOC, we will explore the ever-expanding landscape of OERs and participate in the communities efforts to map the location and ensure the quality of them. In a roundtable webinar, we’ll hear from the experts (including Cable Green and David Wiley on Dec 14 at 11: am CST via webinar) about effective practices for finding OERs and learn how to leverage those practices for our own resource gathering. We’ll also explore pedagogical methods for implementing OERs to ensure the intended impact on our learners.

When can I participate in LOER12?
Join us November 30-December 20 as we learn from the OER experts and collaborate together in discovering effective practices for locating OERs and leveraging them in our instructional strategies.

Why a Micro-MOOC?
According to Dave Cormier, a MOOC: “…integrates the connectivity of social networking, the facilitation of an acknowledged expert in a field of study, and a collection of freely accessible online resources. Perhaps most importantly, however, a MOOC builds on the active engagement of several hundred to several thousand “students” who self-organize their participation according to learning goals, prior knowledge and skills, and common interests.” — The MOOC Model for Digital Practice by Alexander McAuley, Bonnie Stewart, George Siemens and Dave Cormier. The term micro in this context means that it is focused with targeted skill building in the MOOC format. For more on this concept, see the article Targeted Skill Development: Building Blocks to Better Learning from the Oct 12 Faculty Focus by Maryellen Weimer, PhD.

AnswerGarden: What do you think about the importance of OER?. Click the link to post your short thought!

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