Improving Math Instruction with Open Educational Resources
This introductory guide for educators is part of the Power in Numbers initiative, funded by the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE). Power in Numbers aims to help adult learners receive the higher-level math skills they need to succeed. This guide provides educators with step-by-step instructions for identifying, reviewing and remixing high-quality OER.
Improving Math Instruction with Open Educational Resources is an introductory guide that provides step-by-step instructions for identifying, reviewing and remixing high-quality OER. This resource is aimed at adult learning educators interested in exploring open educational resources (OER) for the adult classroom. The insights are drawn from the experiences of educators who hail from 21 states and a variety of classroom types—including community colleges, community centers, correctional facilities and local education agencies. The guide is comprised of five sections:
- Meeting the needs of adult learners: an overview of the math skills gap in the United States, the need for high-quality adult education and training experiences, and how the Power in Numbers initiative has addressed these challenges.
- The opportunity in OER: an introduction to OER and its potential benefits for the classroom, including reducing cost and increasing efficiency.
- Making OER work for you: an outline of three actionable steps for educators to easily use and adapt OER for their specific needs.
- How to get started: a list of recommended OER resources, tips and best practices.
- Lessons learned: a real-life case study from Affordable Learning Georgia on how adopting OER saved textbook costs and increased success for its university students.
This resource was adapted from the presentation “Making Open Educational Resources Work for You” by Power in Numbers user group member Brooke Istas and Luminary Labs Engagement Manager Christina Ward at the Coalition on Adult Basic Education Conference 2019. The overall initiative is funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education under the project titled “Power in Numbers: Advancing Math for Adult Learners” (OER Math project), Contract Number: ED-VAE-14-D-0006/0004.
This introductory guide is aimed at adult learning educators and administrators interested in exploring open educational resources (OER) for the adult classroom. The guide includes a list of actionable tips and recommended online resources for educators getting started with OER. Educators and administrators can also present this guide when hosting OER meetups or discussions.
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
