Open Content Blog

The main claim of this article is that open content is revolutionizing not only what students learn, but how they learn.  This same principal applies to teachers, and how they select material for their classroom.  The article strengthens its stance by providing evidence of the popularity of open content by citing a study done by Edcetera that found "that open educational resources make up three quarters of the content in most MOOCs; paid content, such as required textbooks, is less than 10%."  Even textbook companies are getting involved in offering cheaper digital copies of their product, as a method of competing with the popularity of open content.  However, open content is not a distinctly American or Western entity anymore - developing countries around the world have access to this content, so now students across the globe can receive a quality, and essentially free education.

"Data Driven Teachers" Response

I'm quite glad that the article began by addressing a concern I had developed straight from the title - that 'Data Driven' approaches are what brought about NCLB.  The article immediately differentiates between the two entities.  In DDDM, "information from other assessments, measures of student engagement, previous programmatic interventions, and other data are needed for teachers to design appropriate instructional interventions."  This is exactly how I intend to use data in my classroom - through providing varied assessments that test for different levels of skills and comprehension at various times throughout a semester or school year.  I agree with the article that this is the best way to gain useful data, that can help address and solve issues within a classroom.