More US school districts creating own online curriculum platforms
More US schools are opting to move away from traditional textbooks in favour of online and openly-licenced educational resources to improve and tailor their own curriculum. The move is supported by the federal #GoOpen movement, which encourages schools or states to share materials through an open licence to avoid copyright issues. Some districts have relied on free resources from state-funded programmes such as Engage NY while others have opted to use sites like TeacherPayTeachers, a platform where educators can sell lesson plans and other curricular materials. Amazon has also seen potential: earlier this year, it announced plans to launch Inspire, a marketplace of curricular resources.

Dive Brief:

As school districts work to improve their curricula and instructional resources, many are turning to online options over traditional textbooks in search of better-aligned materials.

District Administration reports several districts have relied on free materials commissioned by states, like Engage NY or Pennsylvania Learns, or fairly priced materials from TeachersPayTeachers, where educators sell materials they created themselves.

The Upper Perkiomen School District in Pennsylvania created its own curriculum and saved $300,000 in textbook purchases over two years, sending $20,000 of those savings to a 1:1 Chromebook initiative.

Dive Insight:

The move away from traditional textbooks is a major trend in education today. The Obama administration’s Go Open campaign encourages schools to adopt openly licensed educational resources in an effort to create a high-quality bank of materials that schools across the country can tap into. The more schools that participate, the more materials will be part of that ecosystem and, theoretically, the better the resources will be.

Just as with textbook purchases, schools have to choose resources carefully to ensure new materials align with local and state standards. The shared nature of the Common Core State Standards seems like it helps the open movement by guaranteeing schools nationwide are seeking out similar materials. In general, purchasing materials by unit rather than by subject and entire grade level also gives schools the flexibility they need.