Educational resources are those items and services that teachers, instructors, and educational institutions offer to help facilitate the learning experience. Open educational resources are free, publicly licensed text, audio, video, and other virtual resources which are beneficial for learning, teaching, and evaluating, and for research purposes. These resources can be found on a teacher’s website, in a lesson plan, or in an educational magazine, book, newspaper, or on a website of an educational organization. Educational websites provide a wealth of educational information for teachers and instructors. Educational resources can be downloaded from these websites and used for research and teaching. They can also be created as stand-alone web applications.
Open educational resources for teachers and educators include various types of software. These are typically used in the creation and support of science units. Some of the types of software used by educators include e-learning portals, digital dashboards, science learning cards, biology learning packs, educational software, educational videos, online labs, paleo tutorials, real time demonstrations, slide shows, text documents, audio presentations, computer applications, desktop applications, theses, PDA products, website templates, video production and editing software, audio and video conference software, educational podcasts, teaching resources, desktop publishing tools, theses and others.
In the past, most educational systems, especially those in the United States, did not have a variety of educational resources available. The primary reason being that it was often difficult to obtain educational materials and software for teaching. The process of obtaining them was often fraught with difficulty, and administrators often had to spend many hours shopping around for the best deals, often spending more on products that they did not need than on the actual teaching itself. As a result, teachers and educators typically had to wait for a long time before they could get their hands on new educational resources. With the introduction of open educational resources into the classroom, however, that has changed.
Open educational resources allow educators to access high quality educational materials and software from the comfort of their own desk or home. This enables educators to make the most of their time, allowing them to spend more time on actual teaching rather than shopping for learning materials. Another advantage to this type of software is that it allows the teacher to take the learning materials with them whenever they are traveling. This can be especially important because in some classrooms there may not be enough funds to meet the needs of the students who are traveling from school to school.
By using open educational resources, the ability for teachers to bring in high-quality learning materials is no longer an issue. These products and software allow educators to not only get the teaching materials that they need, but also to take the learning materials wherever they go. For example, if a teacher is teaching in a foreign country, they can take their laptop with them and download the necessary learning materials from the Internet. This helps to save a great deal of money and resources for the teacher, since they no longer have to buy the books that need to be purchased for a specific class.
Teachers are able to use open educational resources in a number of ways, including creating worksheets and lesson plans. High-quality instructional material is especially important for teachers who teach high-school or college age students because these students typically need extra support when they are first learning. The use of the internet by teachers can provide students with the support they need to stay on track and succeed.
In addition to providing students with educational materials that are easily accessed, these resources can also be used to engage the student in the learning process. Teachers can use online discussion boards to start student-teacher interactions, which can be a powerful way for teachers to interact with their students and learn more about the student’s learning style and habits. Online educational websites can also be used to provide more detailed information on certain topics, such as the reading program of a certain grade level or the types of materials commonly used in a specific class. Educational websites can even provide teachers with ways to connect with students in an online forum or to help them with various project based lessons.
Using educational resources wisely can give any school or educational institution an edge over other schools and colleges. Effective use of educational resources can not only provide more learning opportunities for students, but can also provide teachers and administration with a better understanding of what students need and how they should be utilized. Effective educational software and techniques can provide valuable guidance in the process of teaching. These technological developments have provided educational institutions with the means to provide a superior learning experience for students, while opening up endless possibilities for educational technology professionals.