SETDA resources

Navigating the Shift to OER

Navigating the Shift to OER

Mar 27, 2019

During a tour of updates to SETDA’s Digital Instructional Materials Acquisition Policies for States (DMAPS), which showcases state policies in support of digital materials, Christine Fox, Deputy Executive Director for SETDA, discussed new features like professional development information. In addition, Dr. Michael Nelson, Director of Curriculum and Assessments for Coeur d’Alene Public Schools (ID), explained in the presentation “Navigating the Digital Shift: Leveraging Quality Instructional Materials for Learning,” how his schools are shifting to an OER (open educational resources) environment as part of their overall plan to improve individual student achievement.

Discover and Implement Quality Instructional Materials for Learning

Guide to Quality Instructional Resources Focuses on the Process, not the Purchase

Aug 10, 2018

Questioning the quality of instructional materials isn’t new to the digital education era. But with the rise of OER, growing use of supplemental resources over core textbooks, and the increasing flexibility of state funding, more purchasing decisions have moved to the school and district level. Thus, there is the potential for more disparity in the quality of materials from school to school. Confronted by concerns from their members that schools and districts might not be buying the best quality resources, SETDA updated its Guide to Quality Instructional Materials, which was introduced during the edWebinar “From Print to Digital: Discover and Implement Quality Instructional Materials for Learning.” The emphasis of the Guide, said Christine Fox, Deputy Executive Director for SETDA, is not on critiquing specific content but in helping educators develop an ongoing review process and giving content providers a concrete outline for how the process should work.