New iNACOL Report Offers State Policy Recommendations for Open Educational Resources

Guide helps policymakers promote collaboration and deeper learning with OER

WASHINGTON, Jun 26, 2013 – A new report from the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) – OER State Policy in K-12 Education: Benefits, Strategies, and Recommendations for Open Access, Open Sharing – helps policymakers promote collaboration and deeper learning with open educational resources (OER). Authors TJ Bliss, Ph.D. and Susan Patrick demonstrate how policymakers are helping teachers to build resources, share educational materials, and personalize instruction by permitting publicly funded learning materials to be shared openly as OER.

Susan Patrick, President and CEO of iNACOL, said, “Education leaders can move away from recreating the wheel in all 50 states and territories, enabling sharing and collaboration with learning
materials, resources, and professional development to implement deeper learning and world-class academic standards. This report highlights ways in which state policymakers can support the
collaborative development of open educational resources (OER) to foster personalized learning.”

TJ Bliss, Ph.D., the report’s co-author and Director of Assessment at the Idaho State Department of Education, highlighted, “This guide is meant to share bellwether state examples and recommendations as a guide for policymakers. Innovative policymakers in states such as Utah, Virginia, Washington and Maine have enacted policies for OER as a solution that permits delivery of customized content to students much faster and more cost effectively than the current system allows. These leaders know that open educational resources are a pathway forward to ensure every student has access to highquality, engaging, personalized, and up-to-date content they need to succeed.”

Open educational resources (OER) are learning materials licensed in such a way as to permit educators to share, access, and collaborate in order to customize and personalize instruction. Among the report’s collected policy recommendations, three key principles are apparent for effective sharing of learning materials:

• Emphasize that materials created by state, regional, or local entities using public funds will hold an open license for sharing, collaboration, and access for all educators and students.
• Allow states with instructional materials lists to include vetted OER.
• Allow instructional materials and other funding to support development, maintenance, and infrastructure for OER and technology infrastructure with flexible uses of funding.

To download a copy of OER State Policy in K-12 Education: Benefits, Strategies, and Recommendations for Open Access, Open Sharing, please visit http://bit.ly/inacoloerpolicyguide.

To learn more about iNACOL’s work with blended and online learning, competency-based pathways, OER and new learning models, please visit http://inacol.org.

SOURCE International Association for K-12 Online Learning