I personally think that If there is one thing that everyone should be aware of its copyright laws and standards especially students in university and college and when it comes to online material. The consequences that can be given if not careful are extremes and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

The difference between online educational content and Openly licensed educational content is essentially the “name” or “domain” that is associated with it. For example, online educational content can be thought of as “online resources” such as YouTube, and Khan Academy where anyone is able to just open them, and use them how they would like whereas, Openly licensed educational content is especially “restricted” content that have been licensed for people to use, for example, a published textbook, even though you might have access online to it if not properly dealt with the repercussions can be to the extremes.

For this next portion I selected Open Learn or “The Open University”.. What is Open Learn? This video here will explain just exactly what it is.

I was very unaware that something such as this existed granted I know of other Open Educational Resource such as Khan Academy, however, when presented with the different selections I wanted to see something knew and just how it operated from a learning standpoint but also from a practicality standpoint.

I selected the Science, Math and Technology course list tab for the review. After I selected my intended course it reveals a dropdown list of many different courses that are offered within that field as well as the level of difficulty (Introductory, Intermediate or advanced) as well as how many hours it should take you to finish it.

After you’ve selected the course, for this example I selected Gene Testing and once you find the course you want to take it brings you to a new window in which you are able to see a wide variety of things such as the name of the course, what you will be obtaining upon completing the course, the ratings of this course, course content, class objectives, Course reviews, class description and lastly all the different formats that you are able to download the course in.

 

     

 

Review:

-The information does directly address the objectives of the course.

-All of these classes are built by experts to ensure a high level of accuracy and a low level of errors or omissions

-The user interface is very user friendly there is no lag or disruptions. The information is very clear in large font and paired off in colors. It is very easy to navigate both where you are on the site and where you want to go.

-The information is available is many different formats:

-The resource does offer active learning and participation due to the ability to track your own progress as well as questions that are asked throughout the sessions

-The license does allow for educational reuse as well as modifications and adaptations however you would require an in-depth look at all materials as well as potentially obtaining new licensing.

I’ve had the pleasure of working in different research labs on campus and when it comes to utilizing online research, resources and work. OERs help tremendously when trying to educate myself ondifferent things at once. There are so many different routes to you and it is a nice change of pace when it comes to the traditional lecture style of teaching. OERs help me stay up to date with different type of information at my finger tips.