There are more and more open resource websites for teachers popping up all the time. Here are a few that were shared with me or that I found through a quick search: The OER Commons, Illinois OER, Share my Lesson, and LearnZillion. All that I have looked at have a few unique aspects to them, but something they all have in common are free resources, lessons, or other lesson tools that are available to teachers.
Do websites like these have the potential to change schools?
In my opinion, when looking at just the resources that are available, they don't. They can't.
I don't think that I've heard of schools or districts (that have been successful in great growth) say, "You know, the one factor that helped us be the most successful would be the resources that we used in our classrooms." Resources, whether they be textbooks, Chromebooks, or programs online cannot cause change on their own.
When teachers, administrators, and curriculum coordinators come together, having already determined what their objectives are in reaching their students, and then they look at using some of these open resources. That is when I think change can begin to happen. Many districts, including mine, are having their teachers create new curriculum to replace textbooks and textbook curriculum. This is something that is daunting and time consuming for teachers and schools, especially when teachers feel like they need to create the day to day activities for classes all from scratch. I think that this is where open resources can come into play to help influence change. When schools and teachers have already come together with a common goal in mind, these resources can be picked and used to support that goal and remove some of the daunting tasks of curriculum writing.
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