AASL publishes OER toolkit

CHICAGO – The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has released a new toolkit to help position school librarians in efforts to create and curate open educational resources (OER) that will extend their role as leaders within their schools. The OER Toolkit is freely available for download at www.ala.org/aasl/toolkits.

The toolkit was developed to help school librarians who are grappling with how to translate the OER movement to K–12 educational settings. Its goal is to help school librarians understand the process of curating and creating OER for their school, district, and/or state.

“I want to thank Lori Donovan and her task force for their creative work on developing the OER Toolkit,” said AASL President Mary Keeling. “Resources are presented in scenarios that show administrators, school librarians, and classroom educators considering how to use OERs in different situations. The scenarios facilitate learning by personalizing and providing a context for examining the carefully selected resources. This is an excellent introduction for anyone considering the adoption of open educational resources.”

The toolkit is organized using the Domains and Shared Foundations of AASL’s “National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries” so users can clearly identify potential roles, responsibilities, and opportunities.

The use of personas in the toolkit will help users understand how school librarians can interact and collaborate with educators, administrators, and other stakeholders to achieve their district’s OER implementation goals.

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), empowers leaders to transform teaching and learning.