During this fellowship I would like to develop a project that not only introduces my current students (pre-service teachers) to OER, but that has them develop an OER as part of their capstone for their current and future students in the field. I will be teaching a STEM in Early Childhood course again next semester. During past semesters, students created a virtual children’s museum with partners then they used various online platforms to take the rest of us through their interactive museums. All of the content was developmentally appropriate for early childhood years (specifically ages 4 – 8). I am thinking now, that what was missing was active lesson planning…

While utilizing open resources is not a new concept for me (at least my thought before the initial meeting), learning about how much more OER is, has been enlightening. So much more than (albeit still important) being no cost for students or students engaging with videos/websites, it is about being regenerative. Before now I hadn’t really thought about having students producing work/content for more than the current semester or having them take part in assignment development. Through our discussion and the information in the video, I am excited to view my work through a different lens and develop something that activates enhanced student participation.