REFLECTION IN OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE REPOSITORY

The continuous development of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has contributed a lot in the democratization of providing information and knowledge. This phenomenon has leveled the playing field of learning for everyone who has access to internet and various forms of technologies or gadgets. Truthfully, this age of information and digital media has blessed this generation of learners with a variety of ways to learn new things and apply it in real life scenarios.

One of the gifts of the 21st century education is the development of Open Educational Resources (OER). UNESCO defined OER as “any materials, tools, and resources used for teaching and learning that are openly available for teachers and students without paying any royalties and/or fees.” OER is a big help for both teachers and students in acquiring the knowledge and information that they need in their learning process. As long as they have an internet connection and a portable gadget, they can access the necessary OER that they can use to generate significant learning experience. Thus, OER provided an avenue for the current generation of students to access quality of information and knowledge that is only available to a set of privileged learners several years ago.

This activity of selecting and acquiring information about the appropriate OER that we can use in teaching is a good way of creating a list of quality OER that I can also share to my co-teachers and to my students. As educators, it is our social responsibility to also reach out to our students and fellow educators the knowledge that we have, especially in navigating the benefits of OER. We must open a door of learning for all those students who are also willing to experience the learning transformation that we can obtain from the benefits of OER.

In conclusion, OER has become a great opportunity for learning that we must take advantage of. Our generation is so much blessed with the diverse tools, materials, and resources that we can use to learn. It is up to us on how we will use it in initiating the social transformation that we want to observe and to happen in our society as educators of the next generation.