When well-designed full course Open Education Resources (OER) like OpenUpResources about to be released Illustrative Mathematics are used with a learning management system along with the professional development and training for this type of learning all kinds of possibilities open up for teaching and learning. Assessment of learning is powerfully transformed. Here’s a potential CBE scenario. Approaches like Project-based learning can be leveraged allowing 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. Imagine, in the middle of a cold winter in Minnesota a snow-day is turned into a learning journey to another part of the world from the comfort and safety of the student’s home.
All current generation Learning Management Systems allow districts to report the results on any kind of assessment as frequently as they want. More importantly, students can be given immediate and specific feedback about their responses by their teachers. Teachers can use this type of tool combined with their experience to quickly correct misconceptions and provide students a better understanding of concepts. This is already available; districts just need to decide to start doing it.
Until now there has not been a way to take the money that’s currently being spent on textbooks and divert it to paying for teachers 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 missing element consistent with the U.S. Dept of Education’s #GoOpen Initiative and similar efforts being articulated in most states. SABIER’s recommended implementation refines the #GoOpen Launch Packet and tailors it to each team in a district. SABIER works with school districts to make the changes necessary so that all of the customization and personalization is realized. Districts are able to use existing money and available philanthropy dollars to pay for the initial teacher training that’s necessary to become proficient at using open education resources. It’s the next step in transforming ‘how kids experience school, how teachers teach and even how classrooms look.’
