Step 2: Look at your Current Text/Course

Backward Design

It is a good idea to take a step back to look at what you want your students to learn. What are the goals and desired outcomes for your course? Put another way, think about course goals and outcomes before looking at and choosing course materials such as OER textbooks.

Though we cannot spend too much time on backwards design, here are five steps to consider when designing/building your course:

1. What do you want your students to learn? What are the goals or desired outcomes?
2. What is the purpose of each lesson and how does it fit into the course as a whole?
3. What assessments or tasks will students perform to demonstrate understanding?
4. How will you teach? Plan learning activities and instruction.
5. Lastly consider what materials and resources will support course goals. 

WATCH: The Backward Design Framework (2m 19s) (Links to an external site.)

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Curating, adapting, combining

Before we delve into the details of building OER, we should look at some terminology that will help you navigate your options. 

Curating

Sometimes building OER will be referred to as curating. Think of curating in the context of a museum curator. A curator carefully selects pieces to include in an exhibit that go together in some way to form an entire exhibit. Curating OER means you are collecting separate pieces to create a cohesive whole. You may or may not modify these pieces. 

Creating

Where as curating involves using existing pieces, creating usually refers to making something completely new, such as writing your own textbook.

Sometimes all these terms are used interchangeably but as you will see below there are some important distinctions. 

Adaptations / Remixes vs. Collections

Because of the ND license restriction it is important to know the difference between adapting something and collecting something.

An adaptation is a work based on one or more pre-existing works. What constitutes an adaptation depends on applicable law, however translating a work from one language to another or creating a film version of a novel are generally considered adaptations.

In contrast to an adaptation or remix, a collection involves the assembly of separate and independent creative works into a collective whole. A collection is not an adaptation. One CC community member likened the difference between adaptations and collections to smoothies and TV dinners, respectively.

Like a smoothie, an adaptation/ remix mixes material from different sources to create a wholly new creation:

More info here: https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/1123092/pages/remixing-slash-adapting-collecting-and-more?module_item_id=19721494

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Aims to create a fully inclusive online learning environment for all students. UDL was developed by AHEAD, an organization dedicated to creating equal opportunities in education and employment for people with disabilities. 

From AHEAD's website: "Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn, including Students with Disabilities. UDL aims to improve the educational experience of all students by introducing more flexible methods of teaching, assessment and service provision to cater for the diversity of learners in our classrooms. This approach is underpinned by research in the field of neuroscience and is designed to improve the learning experience and outcomes for all students."

Please visit ahead.ie/udl (Links to an external site.) to read more about Universal Design for Learning. There are some exceptional resources that will help you develop an understanding of how to put the framework of UDL into practice. Also, make sure you watch the short three-minute video describing UDL in more detail: