2 Working with colleagues

Teachers working together
Figure 1

Integrating OER into programmes requires the cooperation and commitment of the people involved in organising and running the programme. To be successful, these individuals need to support the principles, values and goals of the OER.

Reflection point

Who might you work with when considering how to integrate OER into your teacher education programme or setting? Do you have colleagues who are also undertaking this MOOC? Which other agencies might be involved?

So, in order to achieve integration, you will need to work with your colleagues. Some of them might also be involved in this MOOC or might have worked with you on one or two of the assignments – in which case, you might start by comparing your responses to the various activities. However, many will not have heard of TESS-India or OER, and you need to think about how you can introduce your colleagues to them.

In Activity 6.2 you will be exploring how you can communicate the concept of OER and introduce the TESS-India OER to others in order to develop a sustained effort to move forward with OER integration.

Activity 6.2: Presenting to colleagues

Timing: Allow approximately 1.5 hours

[Reading matter icon] Note the opportunities that you have for talking with colleagues. These might be in regular, formal meetings at the BRCs, DIETs, SCERT or other institutions where you work or interact with people; or at informal professional development courses or informal gatherings during breaks in your own institution.

Based on the previous activities that you have completed, plan a short presentation that you could give to a group of colleagues who are unfamiliar with OER and in particular the TESS-India OER.

You should avoid a lecture-style presentation; instead, incorporate what you have learned about active learning to make your presentation interactive and engaging. For example, you could use questions, small pair work tasks, sorting activities or video, or you could get your colleagues to experience a TESS-India case study and activity. Your presentation should last no more than 40 minutes and should include the following elements:

  1. The aims of the OER and the key principles behind them.
  2. The key features of active learning and why this is important to education in India.
  3. The TESS-India OER available; use the Key Resources, video, teacher development and school leader OER.
  4. The role and importance of case studies, activities and video in the TESS-India OER.
  5. How you and your colleagues might use the TESS-India materials in your teaching, paying attention to how active learning can be modelled.

Use some of the resources from the MOOC and the TESS-India website to help you in preparing your presentation. 

Make arrangements to share your presentation with your colleagues, either at one of your regular meetings or as a special event. You might also take this opportunity to share the material that you developed in Week 4 when you used TESS-India OER in your own work.

Optional activity

You could also get others involved by setting up a special interest group or a support group in your institution or local area. You could do this by producing a leaflet, or setting up and advertising a Facebook page. Meetings could be an opportunity to share and learn from experiences, make plans for future use of the materials or writing OER to support the teacher educators in the area.

1 Integrating OER

3 Developing a plan for integration