ISTE 2010 (formerly NECC) is using a collaborative process to choose the keynote topic for next year’s conference.
Imagine my delight at seeing Open Educational Resources (OER) near the top of the list!
For those of you who don’t know much about OER, they are materials used for teaching and learning that are free from copyright restrictions or are publicly licensed for anyone to use, adapt, and redistribute. OERs are distinguished from other digital and/or free materials by the fact that they are open, meaning that they can be modified and redistributed freely by anyone.
Here’s a short backgrounder with more information.
OER is where I’m spending a lot of my time these days, because I believe this is a key component to helping teachers and students to have more control over differentiating their learning experiences with mobile technology and other tools. And it is certainly a nice side benefit that this movement could redirect a lot of funding that currently goes to textbooks (unused in many classrooms) to other more fruitful uses, like professional development, coaching/mentoring, etc.