Full Course OER via an LMS

When well-designed full course Open Education Resources (OER) like Libretext’s Chemistry course is combined with assessments created by Minnesota teachers like Andrew Lyman_Butler, and inter-actives from the Concord Consortium, and then those teacher directed compilations are used with a learning management system and the professional development and training for this type of learning, all kinds of possibilities open up. Assessment of learning is powerfully transformed. New approaches to teaching and learning can be leveraged to allow students to not only learn new facts, but to apply them as they will someday be required to do in their careers. In addition to gaining social learning experiences with their classmates, the digital learning experience opens the world to the student, allowing them to converse and learn from people around the world.

 

All current generation Learning Management Systems allow faculty to report the results on any kind of assessment as frequently as they want. More importantly, students can be  given immediate, personal and specific feedback about their responses by their instructors. Instructors use the tool combined with their experience to quickly correct misconceptions and provide students a better understanding of concepts. Instructors are present, active and directing the learning. This is already available; faculty just need to decide to start doing it.

 

Some of the money that’s currently being spent on textbooks can now be used to pay for instructors to acquire the training and skill to make all of the possible customization a reality.  The Stone Arch Bridge Initiative for Education Resources, SABIER, was created to supply that capability. SABIER’s recommended implementation refines and tailors the professional development to each faculty in an institution. SABIER works with institutions to make the changes necessary so that all of the customization and personalization is realized. Institutions of higher education are able to use existing money and available philanthropy dollars to pay for the initial instructor training that’s necessary to become proficient at using open education resources.  It’s the next step in transforming how students experience school, how instructors teach, and even how classrooms look.

 

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