Open Educational Resources: Teachers are Experts!

Abstract: The National Education Technology Plan and the College and Career Readiness Standards present the field with a new way to think about requirements for student success and meeting the ever-changing demands of the workforce and education systems.   In this interactive session, participants will work together to combine expertise with cutting edge technology that supports them to meet the need for new types of learning materials and instructional approaches.   This can be achieved through open educational resources (OER). OER are free, adaptable, and sharable materials that can be created to develop student centered materials for the classroom, distance learning, and flipped classrooms. OER are significant for adult English language educators because they are free and sharable, able to be remixed and revised to meet learner needs, and customizable. Participants will do hands-on activities to: determine if a resource is open, integrate OER into instruction, and create and share OER. By creating OER teachers can increase student engagement while preparing them to be life-long learners and increase their 21st century skills. Through a project funded by the office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), two groups of Adult ESL Teachers engaged in all of these activities.   Their successes and challenges will be used to demonstrate real world application.   Participants are encouraged to bring laptops to fully engage in the learning experience.   ATTACHMENTS: FINAL_Teachers are Experts_COABE2016