As I connect with educators, I hear a common trend: many districts that moved from traditional textbooks to a robust digital ecosystem with devices, connectivity, learning platforms, and flexible (and digital) curriculum have more successfully navigated school closures, hybrid, and virtual learning.  As many schools are facing the reality that they need to revert back to distance learning amidst building closures, there is a growing gap between districts that have access to high quality content and resources and those who have relied on the traditional textbooks and practices. While some are seamlessly transitioning (the curriculum at least) from home to school due to the digital infrastructure, some are left with packets that are sent home for students to complete with little feedback, guidance or relevance. 

Despite our deepest desire to be back in schools, we know that students and teachers will likely have to engage from a distance as the numbers increase, which can be more efficient, relevant, and effective when resources are digital. 

Using OER to Increase Collaboration, Relevance, and Engagement

If we need people to think differently, solve problems, and be prepared for jobs that don’t exist, how can we structure learning experiences with the curriculum that is linear and standardized?

This case study by ASCD highlights how 3 districts increased relevance, collaboration and engagement in their teachers and students through an innovative and collaborative project. “We used current information, including open educational resources,” said Erin English, director of blended and online learning for Vista. Open educational resources (OER) are licensed in such a way that educators can share, reuse, and adapt them to meet the needs of their students—a perfect vehicle for this project. In addition to developing units of study tied to standards and finding appropriate resources for activities, the COW (California, Ohio, and Wisconsin) teachers designed the specifications of a project through which students would demonstrate their learning.

As we are in the midst of the pandemic there is a tremendous opportunity to leverage the lessons throughout this project highlighted by ASCD to support teacher collaboration, leverage OER resources, and focus competency based assessment where students demonstrate what they learned. 

Teacher Collaboration

Teachers, like all of us, have their own strengths and areas of growth. As we are all facing immense challenges and steep learning curves, there is no better time to support teacher collaboration to codesing projects and resources. Just like the teachers in the COW project, all teachers should be provided time to collaborate, and leverage their strengths while benefiting others’ expertise to design meaningful learning experiences. Imagine if teachers worked together and some who were great at the project design could focus on that and curate resources while leveraging the most effective teaching strategies. Another educator who is great with the technology tools to engage learners can focus on that, while others might be great at explaining the content and some are great on small group settings. Could we reimagine how teachers work with students to lessen the load and increase the effectiveness and impact?

Open Educational Resources

Traditionally, curriculum has been organized in a linear path that promotes a one size fits all approach to success.  When teachers are expected to follow directives or implement programs without taking the context and unique individuals in their room into consideration, it often creates frustration because they see their students need something else, something different, but don’t feel they have the authority to make those changes. 

The Texas Learning Exchange curated an OER library to help educators find and use high quality and free resources to support meaningful learning anywhere, anytime. 

Competency-based Assessment

A standardized or traditional education system is designed to move kids along a certain path at a certain period of time and often ignores the variability in learners or their circumstances. In a mastery or competency-based system the learning goals are clear and transparent to the students and instruction, resources, learning experiences, and assessment are leveraged to meet the learner where they are and help them navigate their path. 

This shift in assessment requires a different view of the role of the teacher, which shifts whole class lessons to more small group instruction, 1:1 check ins, and peer collaboration to move learners from their point a to their point b.

If you begin with your clear learning outcomes in step 1, some powerful tools for competency based assessment are:

• Student goal setting and tracking
• Progress monitoring
• Student-led conferences
• Digital portfolio 

The Impact of a Digital Ecosystem

Plans have been changed, revised and remain short sighted and week by week in many places. It is clear that our schools must evolve and create systems to meet learners. As I reflect on my own experiences and the countless educators I have observed and worked with, it is clear that the best teachers do not use a single approach or follow one curriculum; they create the context and experiences for diverse students to learn and grow. This video from Cajon Valley highlights the power of a robust digital ecosystem that helps teachers, students and families stay connected and engaged as they navigate learning from anytime, anwehre. 

In the Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment gear Future Ready highlights how, “Access to multimodal, multiformat, and multi-sourced high-quality academic content greatly improves learner experience and promotes equitable academic opportunities.” As described in the teacher as designer continuum, high-quality learning experiences that teachers can replicate should be the foundation that educators can use to collaborate and build from. Traditionally, curriculum has been organized in a linear path that promotes a one size fits all approach to success.  Yet, this year has made it impossible to ignore that there is no standardized approach that will meet the needs of learners in 2020. It’s time to evolve.