Save Money Using Open Educational Resources (OER)

As an English teacher, I agree that there is something special about holding, smelling and reading a classic novel but time and use wear down the best of them. Districts either waste money every few years replacing old texts or subject students to broken bindings and tattered pages. There are more than enough free digital resources available to replace or supplement existing practices. Project Guttenberg boasts over 60,000 free texts available to the public. Combining these texts and Perusall can transform an ambitious district that decides to leave the printed page in the past. There are many other OER available that I plan on covering at a later date.

Try it Yourself!

Visit https://www.perusall.com/ to create a free account, preview paid materials or upload your own to get students started reading now. 

Of course, visit https://www.gutenberg.org/ for access to over 60,000 available in numerous formats.

Change Will Come! (Maybe)

https://www.epi.org/publication/public-education-funding-in-the-us-needs-an-overhaul/

While many educational advocates are calling for an “overhaul” to funding, we still live in a world where schools in affluent areas hold more resources. Districts cannot simply wait for money to fall from the sky and instead must look for creative solutions to bring new materials into their classrooms.

https://portal.ct.gov/DAS/CTEdTech/Commission-for-Educational-Technology/Initiatives/Open-Education-Resources

In 2020, the state of Connecticut launched a campaign encouraging educators to explore OER for their classrooms. The aim of the campaign is to provide the following benefits: increased equity, relevance, teacher choice, cost savings, technology and educator connection.