Phase 2: Selecting and Organizing a Team
“The district has found that creating quality resources takes a like-minded, motivated team of educators and dedicated hours of curating and revising the resources into usable tools for instruction.”
-Coronado Unified School District
In selecting and organizing an implementation team, #GoOpen Districts identify key stakeholders from across the district to play important roles in creating, curating, and leading the transition to openly licensed educational resources. Once selected, the #GoOpen team works together to determine the appropriate roles and responsibilities for each member of the team and to organize its work.
Phase 2 Tasks
- Identify key members of the #GoOpen implementation team.
- Agree on a regular meeting time, schedule, and roles and responsibilities.
- Determine a work plan and timeline for implementation.
Phase 2 Guiding Questions
- Who will be part of your #GoOpen implementation team?
The #GoOpen implementation team includes key stakeholders in the district that meet regularly to coordinate and execute a strategy to #GoOpen. In many #GoOpen Districts, these stakeholders include the Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum Director, classroom teachers, librarians, instructional technology specialists, special education teachers, and English language learner teachers. However, makeup of the team varies from district to district depending on its circumstances and structure. Some districts divide their #GoOpen team into sub-teams for specific activities such as design, curation, and implementation. This is a great opportunity to offer teachers leadership roles.
- How often will your team meet? What are the roles and responsibilities of each team member?
Members of the #GoOpen team meet regularly throughout the school year and over the summer both as a team and in small groups to develop and execute your strategic plan to #GoOpen. In addition the team communicates regularly through a variety of digital tools to ensure that everyone is updated on current progress, assignments, and news related to the use of the openly licensed educational resources.
One of the actions of the team is to assign roles and responsibilities to team members. Some team members, librarians, for example, might focus on discovering and tagging resources. Others, such as content experts and classroom teachers, might focus on assessing resources for quality according to district-approved rubrics. Some, such as instructional technology facilitators, might lead professional learning sessions with staff.
- What is a reasonable timeline for replacing a static, traditional textbook with openly licensed educational resources?
As previously mentioned, #GoOpen Districts report that a good time to start the process of replacing a static textbook with openly licensed educational resources is about 12 months before you want to introduce the new resource. Some districts do the work over the course of a summer in a “summer sprint.” A major factor in the amount of time you will need is the degree to which you are curating versus creating materials from scratch. The more you create, the more time and/or team members you will need to author, edit, format, and review the materials. In addition, many districts have an established process for adopting new materials that includes a pilot phase in the rollout process.
One thing to keep in mind is you don’t have to replace an entire textbook all at once. Many districts phase in the use of openly licensed resources and some, as discussed above, use them side-by-side with other free materials and proprietary resources.
Phase 2 Examples
Teachers Make It Happen
Coronado Unified has been using openly licensed educational resources to create both core and supplemental instructional materials for four years. The district has found that creating quality resources takes a like-minded, motivated team of educators and dedicated hours of curating and revising the resources into usable tools for instruction. The district is fortunate to have teachers willing to do this rigorous work. Contributions include creating the sources, integrating them into existing instructional materials, and updating them annually. The district remunerates teachers for this work, which open resource experts estimate at about one third of the cost of adopting static, traditional resources.
In addition to financial rewards, a significant benefit to teacher-writers of openly licensed educational resources is the professional development inherent in evaluating resources for alignment with standards, assessments, and exemplary instructional practices, as well as alignment between members of the department or grade level who create the materials.
The district plans to continue promoting the use of the resources as a means to provide up-to-date instructional materials and professional development for teachers. For a chart outlining the roles and responsibilities of the educators in the process of curriculum collection and development, see Table 3.
Table 3: Roles and Responsibilities for Creating and Curating Openly Licensed Educational Resources at Coronado Unified School District
Role | Duties | Compensation |
---|---|---|
Subject Area Department Chair and/or Grade Level Lead |
Qualifications for a team leader
Responsibilities
|
Department Chair stipend
Professional Development Funds Release Time Summer Project |
Subject Area and/or Grade Level Team Member |
Qualifications
Responsibilities
|
Professional Development Funds
Release Time Summer Project |
Technology Resource Teacher |
Qualifications for a team leader
Responsibilities
|
N/A |
Principal / Assistant Principal |
Responsibilities
|
N/A |
Senior Director of Learning |
Responsibilities
|
N/A |
Director of Technology |
Responsibilities Work with Senior Director of Learning to:
|
N/A |
Phase 2 Resources
- OER Development Process and timeline: Outlines the timeline and process of the Grossmont Union High School District in California.
- Open Educational Resources Development Roles: Details the support positions created for the #GoOpen team of a #GoOpen District.
- Lawrence Public Schools: Team Approach to #GoOpen: Description of a district’s #GoOpen approach.
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