This is Jennifer Gonzalez welcoming you to episode 124 of the Cult of Pedagogy

Podcast. In this episode we're going to take a look at open educational resources.

For as long as the internet has been around teachers have been able to find

free resources online. But while it's great to not have to pay for things, free

instructional materials don't exactly come without problems. One major concern is

quality. When a resource is free it's often hard to tell whether it was

created by someone with a solid education background. It's also quite possible

that the resource wasn't properly proofread and contains errors both in

mechanics and in content. Another issue is copyright. Just because a resource

can be downloaded without a fee doesn't mean you have permission to use it or

share it. Digital resources, including those that cost money, can easily be

distributed online with just a few clicks and once a stolen resource is out

there it can be difficult to get it taken down. Finally there's the problem of

cohesiveness. Grabbing one-off materials from various sources can help you

satisfy immediate instructional needs and variety is a good thing but if you're

looking for something more robust, more sustainable you'll have a harder time

finding it without paying for it. With these problems in mind I was skeptical

when I first heard about the Go Open movement. This initiative launched by the

U.S. Department of Education in 2015 encouraged schools and districts to

adopt free openly licensed instructional resources. Sounded nice in theory but

I didn't see it working. Where was the quality control? How would teachers be

able to tell if they were getting good stuff? In a crowded sea of free

...