The materials reviewed for this week’s class were incredibly helpful in understanding copyright usages. Previously, I really hadn’t really considered the work involved in procuring a resource and determining how it may be distributed for educational purposes. I also had never considered just how many free educational, open educational resources existed for teachers to access. I was amazed at how many diverse educational resources can be found on the OER and OCW of the Creative Commons. From entire lesson plans to digital textbooks these sites multi-grade level resources are abundant.
In exploring the OER Commons I was able to find several educational resources related to personal interest of mine, and material in other courses that I am currently taking. One which I found particularly interesting was a lesson plan for lower primary grade levels on art and culture. In EDCI 307A, the class is studying the visual element of shape. As I have always had a strong interest in visual art, I thought I’d search the OER Commons for resources to support lessons in this area. The lesson plan I found begins with an activity where students view various art pieces and identify the many geometric and free form shapes in the work. Students then look at examples of African masks and talk about the shapes and colors used in their design, and how this may be culturally significant. Students then have the opportunity to create their own mask using shapes and colours meaningful to them and their cultural identity. Well I don’t think I would personally would follow this lesson plan completely (I do not know enough about the cultural significance of African masks to be recreating them with students), it provides great inspiration for similar art activities. The lesson plan provides links to the “shape artwork” to view in the beginning, and various questions that may be asked to further students thinking.
I highly recommend checking the plethora of resources available through the Creative Commons. If you are interested in viewing the Arts and Culture lesson plan I have mentioned above, visit: https://www.oercommons.org/courses/art-and-culture
