Online Learning

By: Ella Head

Learning Targets:

Students will be able to define Open Educational Resources.
Students will be able to identify where, when, and how Open Educational Resources can be used.
Students will be able to evaluate types of Open Educational Resources and create their own types of Open Educational Resources.

Introduction

Technology has taken the world by storm. Almost every adult and teen have a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, and with these lovely devices comes so many wonderful opportunities and things to do. In the early 2010s, schools started to transition laptops into the classrooms, by late 2010s most classes were ran through the computers. In the early 2020s, a pandemic had hit the world by storm and caused a lot of things to change. COVID-19 had switched most students to fully on laptops and computers, but

instead of sitting at a desk in the classroom, students were in their beds, couches, maybe a desk, in their homes. The world was shut down, but school had to continue. With technology at our fingertips, what better option to switch completely to remote online schooling.

Now COVID-19 was not the only time online schooling became popular. A few major online learning programs had sparked in the 2000s. K12 Online Learning school, founded in 2000, which offers public and private online schooling per state, has been the most common online learning school. They have supplied 170 thousand students for online public schooling (K12 Announces Updated..., 2020). Khan Acadamy, founded in 2008, has helped over 110 million students (Cheise, 2025).

Online learning has taken a big step in creating new pathways for students and families to gain the knowledge needed outside of an on-site school. Especially, in situations where that may be the more accessible option. In this lesson you will learn about resources that are accessible for educational puposes, that have helped online learning.

Open Educational Resources (OER)

During COVID-19 there was a great shift in the way students learned. Most schools shut down, some went online, and some decided to opt for a hybrid mix. Roughly 1.6 billion students were impacted and had to adjust to a new style of learning (Gopika & Rekha, 2023). But throughout all of this, resources have changed drastically no matter what route the school district chose. "Technology is following an educational trajectory while addressing barriers to learning, teaching, and social functionalities" (Gopika & Rekha, 2023). This can be expressed through the Open Educational Resources (OER) and awareness and usage of technological devices.

Cheung et al. (2023) defines OER as an open license resource that is allowed for reuse, revision, remix, and redistribution that can be used for educational purpose. In a study that Cheung and his colleagues had created, they looked at how OER had been impacted by the types of learning changes created by COVID-19 and college students. In this study, the types of OER that online students look for has been identified as:

Types of OER (Cheung et al., 2023):

Course Textbooks and Materials
Knowledge as a learning reference
Getting resources for assignments, projects, test preparation and examination
Openly shared sets of course materials, lecture and class note and/or videos, and other supplementary online learning materials
Open online courses, self-contained courses, and online tutorials

Open online courses, self-contained courses, and online tutorials
Open access e-books for self-contained textbooks and reference books, journals, magazines, periodicals, reports, and other documents
Open online dictionaries, encyclopedias, online anti-plagiarism and grammar checkers, online learning software, and online platforms for self and collaborative learning

It is important to note that OER isn't only for online learning. A majority of on-site students use OER. OER is important and should be, "guided by the idea that high-quality educational materials should be available to everyone" (OER 101, n.d.).

Conclusion

OER can be used by anyone in the educational field or with an educational purpose. Online learners, in-person learners, someone writing a blog and using facts and statistics to make an educational remark. These are all ways that OER can be used. It is important that people know when, where, and how these OERs can be used appropriately and legally. As educators it is important to make sure students are using correct materials that fall under these guidelines. As students it is important to know how these can help benefit them. Online learning was made easier during and after COVID-19 with the help of OERs and should continuously be used in all classrooms today.

FUN FACT!

This textbook was made using Open Educational Resources! A lot of things can be done to improve one's educational life, using OER is one of those things.

WAIT!!! Check your knowledge

How does Cheung et al. (2023) define Open Educational resources?

A. Copyrighted resource that is available for educational use but cannot be altered or redistributed.

B. Open license resource that is allowed for reuse, revision, and redistribution that can be used for educational purpose.

C. Paid subscription resource that can be used for educational purposes but cannot be modified or redistributed.

D. Resource available to the public that can be used freely for personal projects but not for educational purposes.

Open Educational Resources can be used by?

A. Only Online Learners

B. Only In-Person Learners

C. Only the public

D. Both A and B

E. Both B and C

Write at least four types of Open Educational Resources that was discussed in this lesson.

Answers: 1. B, 2. D, 3. Any of the bullet points listed in Types of OER

On Your Own!

Now that you have learned what OER is and what OER can be. Create a Padlet entry that express either the types of OER that you use from the list above and create your own types that you use. There must be at least TWO types that you chose from the list and at least TWO types that you have created on your own. Please use full and complete sentences.

References

Cheung, S. K. S., Wong, B. T. M., & Li, K. C. (2023). Perceived usefulness of open educational resources: Impact of switching to online learning for face-to-face and distance learners. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1004459. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1004459

Cheise, A. (2025, January 31). Khan Academy Statistics (2025): Updated Data & Facts. Prosperity For All. https://www.prosperityforamerica.org/khan-academy-statistics/

Gopika, J. S., & Rekha, R. V. (2023). Awareness and use of digital learning before and during COVID-19. International Journal of Educational Reform, 10567879231173389. https://doi.org/10.1177/10567879231173389

K12 announces updated enrollment for managed public schools of 170 thousand students. (2020, August 25). Stride. https://investors.stridelearning.com/news/news-details/2020/K12-Announces-Updated-Enrollment-for-Managed-Public-Schools-of-170-Thousand-Students/default.aspx

OER 101. (n.d.). OER Commons. https://oercommons.org/oer-101

Additional Resources:

A great place to look for additional information on Open Educational Resources would be OER Commons at https://oercommons.org/

How I used AI:

I had used AI (Copilot) to help me create similar multiple choice answer options for my question that required it. Once it gave me some possible incorrect answer options, I adjusted the wording. I had to first start with explaining what my lesson was about and my lesson targets. Once it had read through my targets I then gave it one question at a time with the correct answer and had it give me 5 incorrect answers. I would then take 4 of the five, smush two together, and then reword all three incorrect answers. The AI helped give me easy to understand but not too easy to give away that it was incorrect questions. It would also tell me that it liked my targets and gave comments about what it liked on my targets without asking it to.

Page updated

Report abuse