April24Tasks

From OER Commons Wiki

Dear participants-

We are ready to move into some very interesting discussion about how to find and use open resources for your projects. This week we've created some tasks you can work on that you can work on independently or with participants from your country. As you move through the tasks, you'll have a chance to contribute to the conversation online, using LeMill.net as our discussion site. Of course, if you need any help or clarification as you go, you are welcome to contact us. I will also be holding virtual office hours (see below) when I'll be online for Skype conversations, chats, and/or email.

Here are our three activities for this week:

1. Presentation

Please view the "What is OER" presentation http://www.iskme.org/what-we-do/projects/why-oer/WhyOER_en.htm, and post any questions on a discussion at LeMill. (Please note: the video may take a while to load, depending on the speed of your internet connection.)

Question: How important is it to you currently that you are allowed to change or alter a curriculum resource that you find online?

Please place your answer on the discussion at LeMill: http://lemill.net/community/pilot-international-oer-exchange/question-about-altering-curriculum-resources/base_view.

2. Rating and Commenting

Rating and commenting on specific resources on OER Commons. We'll take a look at a few specific resources on climate change in OER Commons. Your task will be to think about how you might use or adapt the information on these sites to use with your own class.

First resource: Global Warming Facts and Our Future http://www.oercommons.org/courses/global-warming-facts-and-our-future

Second resource: The Greenhouse Effect (A java-based visual simulation) http://www.oercommons.org/courses/the-greenhouse-effect

Third resource: What Should We Do About Global Warming? http://www.oercommons.org/courses/what-should-we-do-about-global-warming-1

Tasks:

1. Make sure you have a log-in to OER Commons and wiki.oercommons.org
2. View the instructions for Tagging, Rating, and Reviewing OER Materials.
3. Take a look at one of the resources above, and think about how you might use it with your students. Also, think about adaptations you might have to make. Create a review of your chosen resource on OER Commons.
4. Rate the utility of one resource on OER Commons.

3. Searching and finding on your own in OER commons.

Tasks:

1. View the instructions for searching and filtering search results in OER Commons: Finding OER Materials You Can Start Using Now
2. Look for other resources on OER Commons that might help you in your course. Think about the kinds of resources that you might want to use: background information for yourself, activities for your students, simulations and visualizations, and so on. Use filters, keywords, tags, and ratings to help you.
3. In your own project template on LeMill, please write about one resource you think you could use or adapt.
4. Finally, join the discussion on LeMill about your initial thoughts about finding and rating open resources on OER Commons. Here we would like you to share your experiences: how hard was it to find resources that are relevant to your project? How did you decide what is appropriate for your class?

Please place your answer on the discussion at LeMill: http://lemill.net/community/pilot-international-oer-exchange/question-about-finding-and-rating-open-resources/base_view.

Virtual office hours:

Date	US-PDT	Chile	Italia	Estonia
April 28	6:00	9:00	15:00	16:00
April 29	7:00	10:00	16:00	17:00
April 30	9:00	12:00	18:00	19:00
May 1	12:45	15:45	21:45	22:45
May 2	5:00	8:00	14:00	15:00

Note that these times are all in 24-hour format, so 8:00 is 8 a.m.

Thanks for reading. We're looking forward to hearing your experiences!

Mark Basnage