:sync: Preparing Elementary Teachers to Curate, Adapt and Use OERs in Mathematics Education

Author: Steven Khan
Institution: Brock University
Country: Canada

Topic: Connecting Open Education to Primary and Secondary (K-12) Education
Sector: K-12
UNESCO Area of Focus: Building capacity
Session Format: Presentation

Abstract

Students enrolled in a mathematics methods and graduate coursework for future and in-service elementary teachers were introduced to open education resources in mathematics education and open education practices. Both groups were required to curate and remix units from the San Francisco United School Division (SFUSD) K-5 mathematics education resources and other online sources as part of a major course assignment.

Based on reflective posts and in-class assignments a significant proportion found this challenging and had not used or heard about open education resources or practices prior to this course.
This presentation will describe the specific strategies and challenges encountered by participants. In particular I will suggest that students fears about plagiarism and insufficient prior exposure to OERs and OEPs were a source of initial resistance and cognitive challenge. I will also suggest that students need to be immersed in an environment in which OER and OEPs are normalised across courses in a program in a more coherent manner to reap the benefits of teachers who are prepared to use OERs intelligently upon graduation in their early career practice.

Keywords

Mathematics education, Teacher education, Open Education Resources and Open Education Practices

Hello!

I’m excited to participate in this session. There is such a need for OER in K-12 education. I believe that teacher candidates are in a good position to adapt, remix, and design these materials as part of their coursework.

We integrated a similar project into a Language, Literacy, and Educational Technology course. Our findings seems very similar in that the participants had no awareness of OER before the course and struggled with the licensing information. Interestingly, we found self-efficacy to be a determining factor in the teacher candidates’ decision to share openly. Be sure to check out our poster with our findings: Teacher Candidates’ Self-Efficacy in Renewable Assignments: Findings from a Mixed-Methods Study in Teacher Education

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Thanks Jennifer, I’d love to hear more about what you’ve done. Will look at the link.
Something needs to change in pre-service teacher education courses and models.

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I agree! Our study focused on graduate students who were largely in-service teachers seeking an advanced teaching certification. I’m really looking forward to hearing more about your study and I’d love to talk further with you.

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Hello Steven,

I’ll be your tech facilitator for your session.

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If there is anything you need from us, please let us know! Thanks for being part of the conference.
Kristina

Thanks Kristina
Will do. I am OK with the session being recorded. The conference has been amazing and I am looking forward to getting to sessions that were during the early morning time here afterwards.

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skhan6@brocku.ca - looking forward to chatting more also.
I haven’t pubished in this area at all but reviewing the data again there is some very good insights I think.

Welcome everyone. I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing from you all later today.
Link to Presentation

Here’s the recording of the session: