Open educational resources–there ain’t nothing more WAC than this movement. If you check out this one site, OER Commons, you’ll find a lot of learning materials–for teachers and students. It’s just one among many places you can roam for information and learning. I’ll add a page called: “Got OER?” soon and start with this one place.
“Stuff” at OER Commons includes whole courses, book, films, and more. Search for writing, and you’ll two familiar volumes, but you’ll also find that you got 1645 hits. Too much.
Search for "writing" at OER Commons (4 June 2011)
If you search for “writing across the curriculum,” you’ll get less hits, but I think you’ll have much more fun if you do something like “science and writing” or “art and writing” (in fact, this last will yield you some very fun sounding stuff). Check out this potentially amazing OER (below). Think about pairing this with the Writing Spaces chapter, “Storytelling, Narration, and the Who I Am Story” (Vol. 2) by Catherine Ramsdell:
Art and Writing from OER Commons (4 June 2011)
I had trouble getting this to load, but it was so worth mentioning, even if I struggled. (I have a billion windows open right now, am downloading two movies, and playing music very loud… not sure that puts too much strain on my computer, but could be that’s the case.) Even if you can’t get this to connect, the description is a place to start–the visual self-portrait can be something great to align with a written self-portrait, such as a literacy narrative (the first assignment we require in freshman composition).
My point is that you can mix and match OER in amazing ways for your own learning and for learning you may want to share with others, if you teach or tutor or consult or feel like helping out a friend who wants or needs something interesting to do!
You will want to register to use the OER Commons site (first tab at the top of the page). But you can browse before doing that.
See the “Browse All” button–on the top of the page at the left? Go there to trek around for awhile. Bet you’ll find something you want to explore. I like poking around in the video lectures section. I just like seeing what’s there and finding anything that might strike my fancy related to WAC or writing or thinking (or whatever–serendipity can lead me to some fascinating moments when I let it).
If text is everything, then text is everywhere, and I’m ready to see what text appears to me in these magical journeys through the OER world.
It’s all so science fiction, isn’t it? I feel like Scotty in Star Trek IV trying to speak to the computer in the 1984 aluminum manufacturing plant, but I’m not working on polymers: “Computer, help me find some new OER today that will tickle my fancy.”
It always works.
write across this_________ 