Open Educational Resources

  • OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER)

    In an effort to increase the use of technology to design curriculum and expand access to standards-based instructional resources, Catasauqua Area School District is exploring the use of open educational resources. Effective teacher curation of open educational content requires the evaluation for quality and appropriateness. Furthermore, to effectively differentiate instruction, teachers must consider the reading levels as well as the informational formats that a collection of materials should include.


    Amazon Inspire - set to launch in May 2016
    Part of the DOE's #GoOpen initiative, this free platform will host already created OER materials, using all the power of Amazon's famed recommendation engine. Users will be able to search, rate, review and follow favorite authors.

    CK-12 - http://www.ck12.org/
    Specializing in high quality curated STEM content. Provides the ability to create your own online textbook.

    Creative Commons Search - http://search.creativecommons.org
    Effective tool for finding copyright free media.

    Digital Public Library of America - http://dp.la
    Excellent resource to locate primary source materials.

    EngageNY - https://www.engageny.org
    Provides free Common Core curriculum in English and Math.

    Gooru - http://m.gooru.org/gooru/home
    Open and collaborative online learning community with customized collections of standards-aligned, interactive, learning materials that have been curated by teachers.

    Khan Academy - https://www.khanacademy.org/
    Primarily science and math website, but includes thousands of free lessons, games and resources in subjects as diverse as art history and computer programming.

    Kennedy Center's ArtsEdge - http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org
    The website features lessons and material on using art to teach numerous subjects, including math.

    Learnzillion - https://learnzillion.com/
    Teachers can access cloud based curricula for FREE, districts can opt for a pay model to get more features.

    Library of Congress - https://www.loc.gov/
    Excellent resource to locate primary source materials.

    MIT's Opencourseware - http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
    The web-based publication of all of MIT's content is an early example of OER.

    National Geographic - http://education.nationalgeographic.org/
    National Geographic Learning publishes educational textbooks that must be purchased, but also offers free activities, lesson plans and videos in geography, social studies and science.

    National Park Service - https://www.nps.gov/teachers/index.htm
    Offers hundreds of student activities, lesson plans and supplemental classroom materials in primarily social studies and science.

    OER Commons - https://www.oercommons.org/
    A curated digital library of free open educational resources from more than 400 sources. Content is vetted by curriculum specialists.

    OpenEd - https://www.opened.com/
    Currently includes more than 250,000 videos, games and other resources aligned to standards.

    OPEN Online Physical Education Network - http://openphysed.org/curriculummodules
    Physical Education Curriculum, Lesson Plans, and Assessments

    Openstax College - https://openstaxcollege.org/
    Rice University's non-profit develops free textbooks. K-12 schools can access these texts to teach AP Classes.

    PBS Learning Media - http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/
    Videos, games, lesson plans and curriculum resources sortable by grade, subject, or standard. Also offers free tools for helping teachers build quizzes and lessons.

    Project Gutenberg - https://www.gutenberg.org/
    Provides access to over 50,000 e-books.

    SAS Curriculum Pathways - https://www.sascurriculumpathways.com/portal/
    Interactive lessons, documents and resources in math, English language arts, science, social studies and Spanish aligned to multiple standards. Online and mobile apps for students including Writing Reviser.