SETDA Publishes OER Case Studies and Resources
The State Educational Technology Directors
Association (SETDA) has published a series of three case studies and other
resources designed to support open educational resource (OER) initiatives at
the state, district and school level.
SETDA defines open educational resources as "teaching and learning materials
that are free and may be used, reused, mixed and otherwise customized to meet
specific needs," and points out that not all free educational resources are
open educational resources. While free resources may help schools cut costs,
open educational resources have the added distinction of allowing
customization.
"OER materials provide our teachers with the ability to customize content
for the specific needs of their classes," said Brad C. Smith, state
superintendent of Public Instruction for Utah, in a prepared statement. "The
use of OER encourages collaboration among educators and is often more cost
effective than traditional textbooks."
SETDA has published case studies about OER implementations in New York, Utah
and Washington state. Each case study describes the state's policies on OER and
the details of OER implementation in a specific school district, including the
process of evaluating resources, associated professional learning, budgets and
lessons learned. Leaders at the state, district and school level can look to
these resources for ideas to use in their own OER initiatives.
In addition to the case studies, SETDA has also published information about
OER licensing, particularly Creative
Commons licensing, information about accessible educational materials (AEM)
for students with special needs, and links to additional information about open
educational resources.
SETDA's OER case studies and other resources can be found on the SETDA site.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].