Similar to the critique created for the same class, research is a fundamental skill, just like dribbling, that requires practice and experience to get good at it. I defiantly found this class to be one of the most challenging of the program, this project in particular, however I both understood and appreciated the purpose. It was certainly a stretch for my writing skills, it felt a little bit like doing a lot of left handed, behind your back dribbling drills.  Something that was not at all easy at the start, but did get easier and easier with time and my “game” was defiantly improved for the better afterwards.  This also gave me the opportunity to do more work on OERs, following up on the paper I had done in the previous semester. It was a very important topic to me as I started the MET program.

Abstract:
This research proposal focuses on the use of Open Educational Resources (OERs) by secondary and primary school teachers. Budget cuts coupled with the increasing demand to keep up with new technology, teaching is becoming more demanding. Financial constraints and high layoff rates, often mean new teachers are asked to teach different classes every year. Instead of having technology add to educators’ to-do list, it has the potential to help teachers collaborate to relieve some of the lesson planning pressure. It is necessary to discover the factors that would make teachers more willing to share their intellectual property by looking into the possible barriers that come with OERs, as well as some possible solutions that will boost teacher participation. Small school or community-based OERs will remove many of the challenges and barriers that traditionally impede the open resource movement and will ideally maximize teacher participation and jump-start the movement at the public school level. In order to be practical and long-lasting, this initiative will have to look back to its origins in open source software and work together within their educational community in creating a culture around the principles of openness and sharing to guide the development.

Research Proposal
ETEC 500- Final ResearchProposal