Schmidt said that open educational resource (OER) initiatives should recognize that obstacles such as economic barriers, limited technical abilities, restricted access to certain resources, various student disabilities, and differences in learning styles might prevent many students from being able to access, use, or fully benefit from digitally formatted and internet-only accessible content.
“OERs should only be considered after careful and complete evaluation and full analysis of the intended classroom use. NACS believes the evaluative process, by any institution, should include representation by the college store as subject-matter experts in the course materials area,” he wrote.
Access is something that Hochberg, the Texas state representative, said is a bit of a concern when dealing with digital content.
“What we know is that an estimated 75 percent of the kids have some access to the computer, but that doesn’t mean that they have internet [access]. And we have to be absolutely certain to provide that additional access,” he said.
Lisa Hill, an educational technology hardware reviewer with the School Tech Talk web site, said internet use benefits not only students, but also the teachers’ ability to provide rich content.
“What I have found is the increasing use of the internet by teachers to find reliable sources, and the increasing availability of free programs to assist teachers [in] developing content. Lesson plans, tutorial services, [and] how-to guides … help steer teachers away from textbooks. Students have a wide variety of learning styles, and the internet helps bridge this gap. Books are great, but to reach students today requires a bigger bag of tools,” she said.
“It takes time to develop a curriculum, and if information is more up-to-date online, then why use the textbook?”
Links:
“A Kindle in Every Backpack: A proposal for eTextbooks in American Schools”
National Association of College Stores
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