Blog Post #9

 In K-12, I didn't experience a whole lot of distance learning. I had used Canvas since early high school, however I never really dealt with distance learning. COVID hit during the last quarter of my senior year, so teachers still weren't sure how things worked yet. There were no Zoom meetings, and all assignments were on Canvas. Granted, some assignments were altered (my guitar teacher obviously couldn't listen to us play, so he assigned us music theory worksheets) but for the most part things weren't that different yet.

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are public domain materials that teachers can access and use for their classrooms without needing permission from the original creator. According to University of Maryland Global Campus, usage of OERs come with both pros and cons. The pros include things such as the resources allowing modification to your own personal standards, they can increase student interaction, and they can enhance an otherwise great course. However, OERs can come with disadvantages such as language/cultural barriers, sustainability issues, and they can cause a disconnect between students and their instructors.

The assignment was fairly easy, however I'd argue that it is time-consuming. Because my public speaking skills mostly reply on improvisation, I ended up writing a script for the assignment that took a while to write. It was fun, however. I got to revisit one of my favorite books from high school and was surprised just how much knowledge I had retained from 7 years ago.