Lesson 4 Reflection

I see that OER have the potential to level some of the playing field in education. No matter what their locale, students can have some of the brightest minds teaching them through their internet connection. Another positive is the adaptability and real-time updates that can happen to the content - as opposed to the set in stone textbooks.

On the other hand, I see some serious problems presented by an increased dependence on OER. The main issue I have is the impersonal aspect of the lessons. This criticism has two aspects for me. First, the lessons I deliver to my students are specifically based on what I know about them as learners. My knowledge of my students informs the order of activities, pacing, even the word choice I use in presenting a lesson. OER must be for the masses, and therefore, will lose this differentiated and personalized aspect. Second, the credibility I have with my students is only partially based on their belief in my expertise in my subject are. In my experience, it is much more important that they know and respect me as an individual and that I know and respect them as individuals than it is for them to know I am smart. Without this personal relationship, they will not listen to or care about what I am trying to teach them; it is foundational. OER, again, lose this relational aspect of education. Because of these issues, I see OER as a furtherance of the flipped classroom pedagogy - they can be useful to supplement in class learning, but should be used with discretion.

I do think part of what I've written above comes from my discipline; besides grammar, I don't teach many explicit skills. Instead, my students are reading novels and discussing their ideas about what they've read. I am not willing to outsource these discussion, and perhaps that is where some of my aversion comes from. I would be happy for OER to teach my students things like grammar (or supplement my teaching).