This spring my goal has been to dive head first into creating content for my German classroom. However my biggest concern in doing so was ensuring that my labor was being utilized to create works that could benefit students and teachers outside of my classroom.
Creating WL resources are particularly time intensive, and the “time-payoff” (hours spent using in the classroom / hours spent creating) is often out of sync. I want the work I do to incentivize others to share resources and collaborate.
I also want to help give teachers the structural supports they need to get started in creating their own materials.
For more information on OER from the Creative Commons: https://creativecommons.org/about/program-areas/education-oer/
Creating Activities from Openly Licensed Resources
The simplest (from a legal perspective) way of creating new OER is to create educational resources from already openly licensed materials.
A good bank to draw on initially is this portal from the CC: https://creativecommons.org/about/program-areas/education-oer/education-oer-resources/
For creating materials that draw from current events/new sources: https://de.wikinews.org/wiki/Hauptseite (Other languages available)
For text excerpts from works already in the public domain https://www.gutenberg.org/
*My opinion on licensing*
Having spoken to other CC educators about the topic, I feel that the best practice is to license as much work as possible under CC-BY, at least until we reach a point where the “core” of an open curriculum is firmly established.
From a creator standpoint, it is important to note that this means that all works created may only share and adapt works licensed under:
- CC-BY
- CC-0*
- Public Domain
*Additional licenses like those found on Pixabay, that do not require attribution or limit the way in which the work can be distributed.
Best practice in all uses is to attribute the adapted or shared works using the guidelines presented here on the Creative Commons wiki: https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/best_practices_for_attribution
Additional Resources:
Pedagogy
First we Learn to Listen – Grant Boulanger
Promoting Academic Integrity Online – Geoff Cain
CLEAR at MSU – Resources
COERLL at UT – Resources
ACTFL – Role of Technology in Language Learning
ACTFL Lesson and Unit Plan Templates
German Curriculum
Grenzenlos Deutsch – an open educational resource in German
Nthuleen – Resources from the University of Wisconsin
Deutsch im Blick – Year one college German
AP German – AP Central – Useful resources and sample questions
Audio
Text
Determine what level a reading is:
LLE – Language Level Evaluator (Free Klett Account Neccesary)
Essential Web-Apps
Gimkit – A flashcard app, great classroom mode but the new Assignments feature is good for assigning online
H5P – an HTML5 plugin for your LMS that allows for more diverse forms of formative assessments (A full list of it’s functionality is here: https://h5p.org/content-types-and-applications)
Lyricstraining – A web app for learning languages through music
Hypothes.is – A great PDF reader plugin for your LMS that allows for asynchronous note taking and collaboration
Essential Software for ME:
Audacity – for making Audio edits and doing quick recordings.
OBS Studio – for recording screen captures w/ webcam overlays
Handbrake – for converting video files and working with subtitles
SubtitleEdit – the best for retiming subtitles (PC Only)
Aegisub – a pretty good subtitle editor for Mac
Adobe Photoshop – for editing and manipulating photos (although GIMP is an ok free alternative
Other Blogs for Moving Online
6 ways to start flipping your classroom now – Ditch that Textbook
