Currently, there is a lot of buzz in K-12 about Open Educational Resources (OER). Some educators see OER as totally revolutionizing how we bring learning materials into our education system, while others see OER from a more pragmatic perspective. While there are many reasons to support OER, the cost issue is a primary factor in its growing popularity amongst school administrators and school boards. But when we drill down to the classroom level, we have found that the ability to truly personalize the learning experience for students is what really excites teachers. 

Leveraging OER gives teachers the ability to truly personalize the learning experience for students by providing resources that celebrate the histories, experiences, and everyday life of the students they serve. Approaching OER through the lens of providing windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors, prioritizes diversity, honors many cultures, and promotes empathy. This notion, first coined by educator Emily Styles in 1988, refers to creating educational experiences that allow students to both see the world from new perspectives and also see themselves represented in the content they are learning.

"Windows" refer to experiences that open up new perspectives and cultures to students, allowing them to broaden their understanding of the world and the people in it. "Mirrors" refer to experiences that reflect the lives and experiences of the students themselves, allowing them to see themselves in what they are learning and making the content more relevant and meaningful to them. "Sliding Glass Doors" refer to experiences that allow students to move back and forth between the perspectives they have learned, to understand the connection between their own experiences and those of others, and to develop a sense of empathy and perspective-taking.

The benefits of such an approach to curriculum writing are that it helps to create a more inclusive and culturally responsive education that better meets the needs and experiences of all students, regardless of their background. It also helps to promote cross-cultural understanding, empathy, and a sense of global citizenship. Finding OER can sometimes be intimidating for teachers since there is no single repository of resources, nor is there one way to go about using OER in schools. The Garnet Valley School District, under the leadership of Director of Technology & Innovation, Dr. Samuel Mormando, and then Curriculum Supervisor, Anthony Gabriele, joined the #GoOpen Movement in 2016 and quickly became an exemplar school district in this area. Garnet Valley developed the 3C’s approach to OER: collecting, curating, and creating. The OER process below can be done by individual teachers, but the power of OER comes when colleagues work together to complete the following phases of the OER process.

We believe OER is one of the best ways to personalize learning for students and for some school districts, it may be the only way. Take for example, Dr. Julia Hill, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning in central Pennsylvania. In many conversations with our team, Dr. Hill expressed her frustration with the available resources to effectively teach students in her schools. From her perspective, it was like the entire textbook publishing and digital content industry skipped over her region when creating school resources. Despite her best efforts, and those of her colleagues in the classroom, no published content adequately represented their students, prioritized their diversity, or honored their culture.

As a result, Edvative is supporting Dr. Hill and her team on two separate, but interconnected and equally important components of teaching and learning. One is curriculum and the other is course design. On the curriculum side, we began by helping to unpack the state standards and by supporting their curriculum teams as they began drafting their curriculum. The group accepted the challenge of using OER so that all teachers had the flexibility to reuse, revise, remix, redistribute, and retain any and all resources and activities. By using OER to build curriculum, teachers are able to better personalize the learning experience for their students. Before you go, take a moment to view the video below (1:33) to hear Rudine Sims Bishop discuss the concept of "Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass Doors."