Diving into OER: A Mountain of Materials for Newbies

Speaker: Toni M. Williams This lightning talk will share my experience with OER as SCOER recipient. The resource is invaluable to educators and researchers. By using the resources, I was able to refine and expand my skill set to better serve my students. I created a robust reading list for my course with the curated collections and various lessons and materials. Using OER allowed my students to explore topics and resources that they could incorporate when creating lesson plans for specific subject areas. Students were empowered to find resources and materials with personal relevance and connections to state standards. The resources and materials ranged from unit plans, and videos, to teaching strategies and primary sources. OER provided students (future teachers) an opportunity to critically examine resources and collections for equity, access and inclusion. OER is a valuable toolbox to use as a resource or as a contributor to sharpen professional skills.