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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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The Language OER Network (LOERN) is a platform used to showcase the work educators in the field of language learning and teaching. Educators who use, create, and share OERs and OEPs can be recognized by COERLL and  be assigned digital badge (an online representation of earned knowledge or skills). On this platform, LPDs who develop OERs can be recognized by COERLL, one of 15 National Foreign Language Resource Centers funded by the US Department of Education.

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Groups directory

The goal of the Language OER Network (LOERN, pronounced 'learn') is to showcase the work of open educators in the field of language learning and teaching (L2LT). If you are a language educator who uses, creates, or promotes open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP), COERLL would like to recognize your innovations by listing your name on the LOERN page and by assigning to you a COERLL digital badge. A digital badge is an online representation of earned knowledge or skills. If you would like to be featured on the LOERN page, please fill out the form corresponding to your role in open language education. Once your name is published on LOERN, you will receive a badge from COERLL. We welcome multiple submissions from people who are active in different areas of OER!

An OER Ambassador is someone who actively promotes foreign language OER by sharing and modeling various open educational practices (OEP): e.g. giving a conference presentation, networking in an open educational forum, writing an article or blog about OER, facilitating an OER/OEP workshop, mentoring a student or teacher about Open Education, etc.

Apply here: https://goo.gl/oYw84d

Affiliation: University of Wisconsin

I have been working to develop an authoring tool that allows language teachers to publish free and open language textbooks.

Affiliation: Dickinson College

I created the Mixxer (www.language-exchanges.org), have submitted student mods of the game Civ V to Merlot, and written about openness.

Affiliation: Portland State University

I manage PSU's open textbook publishing program and have presented several workshops on open access textbook publishing

An OER Reviewer is a teacher who writes an evaluation or a review of an OER by another teacher in the language he or she teaches, e.g., proof of membership in an editorial board or a review in a blog or a repository such as MERLOT, OER Commons, or Open Textbook Library (University of Minnesota).

Apply here: https://goo.gl/G5ipGW

Affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

I wrote a review of FLLITE lessons

Affiliation: University of Minnesota

As a member of the FLLITE Editorial Board, I conducted a blind review of a participating student's lesson plan draft.

Affiliation: University of Oregon - Romance Languages

I have reviewed several projects for the FLLITE project

An OER Master Creator is a student or teacher who creates an OER based mainly on original content. In this case, an OER is more ambitious than a single lesson plan and usually includes a set of materials, e.g., a set of readings or grammar exercises or even a thematic unit. All OER must carry an appropriate CC license.

Apply here: https://goo.gl/UA9wBq

I created Vachiam Eecha in 2003 and then the Wiki for Indigenous Languages in 2011.

Co-created an open course for Maya K'iche' that incorporates audiovisual materials.

Affiliation: Eastern Mennonite University

With her colleagues, a co-author of a series of culture and reading units for 300-level Spanish students.

An OER Creator is a student or teacher who adapts existing OER to create a new derivative. Adapting an OER usually means revising a work or remixing several works into a coherent whole. All OER must carry an appropriate CC license. An OER may be fairly limited in scope, for example, a single lesson plan or activity.

Apply here: https://goo.gl/MefoVx

I assisted Vivian Flanzer in the creation of the site ClicaBrasil

Affiliation: Texas A&M University

Implemented the digital, OER, social-reading platform eComma to introduce fourth-semester (Spanish 202) students to poetry

An OER Master Teacher is an advanced user of OER who either adopts a large, integrated OER as the curriculum or combines several OER into a coherent curriculum. In this case, the OER are more important to the curriculum than the adopted commercial materials.

Apply here: https://goo.gl/199xhD

Affiliation: University of Washington

Develops quizzes, comprehension activities, and more using COERLL's Brazilpod materials.

An OER Teacher is someone who uses OER primarily to supplement the adopted textbook that defines the curriculum and dictates the classroom activities. In this case, OER are used to update, amplify or improve some elements of commercially-produced materials found to be lacking.

Apply here: https://goo.gl/TPPpi7

Affiliation: Minnesota State University, Mankato

I adopted Français interactif from @COERLL as the primary text in our 100-level courses & have been using it successfully for 5 years now.

I use the Francais Interactif program as the basis for activities, vocabulary and grammar.

Uses openly accessible online materials with German students at Santa Barbara City College.

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The goal of the Language OER Network (LOERN, pronounced 'learn') is to showcase the work of open educators in the field of language learning and teaching (L2LT). If you are a language educator who uses, creates, or promotes open educational resources (OER) and open educational practices (OEP), COERLL would like to recognize your innovations by listing your name on the LOERN page and by assigning to you a COERLL digital badge.

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Online cafés: Intercultural learning communities

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Online cafés: Intercultural learning communities

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This video describes the Online Cafés project,designed by educators to bring together students in different locations and support intercultural exchange and language practice. The project is an adaptation of the Cultura model for intercultural exchange. With this resource, LPDs can further understand how technology tools can be used to support students' autonomous learning.

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ScholarSpace at University of Hawaii at Manoa: Online Cafés: Intercultural Learning Communities

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This 25-minute video describes the Online Cafés project, in which language educators have worked together to design online cafés in which language learners in different locations can engage in intercultural exchange and language practice. The Online Cafés project is an adaptation of the Cultura model for intercultural exchange developed at MIT.

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This YouTube video includes opinions and insights about how open textbooks and open education are being supported in different fields. The four panelists are professors, including a linguist, at the The University of Arizona. In this video, LPDs can listen to opinions of professors and better understand what it is being done to reduce the cost of commercial textbooks.

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The ABC’s of Open Textbooks: What It’s Like to Adopt, Build, or Create a Free Resource

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The creation of pedagogical materials also includes using images, audio files, videos, and so forth. This website lists numerous open resources that can be freely used when developing materials for language teaching, or any other discipline.

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Initially, I put this list together for my students, but then thought I'd share it with a (ahem) wider audience. This list is far from perfect and my brief descriptions are little more than initial feelings in some cases, but it's a start. I will be updating this list as time goes on and plan on including collections like Vector Images and Web Design Assets, as well. If you know of any great resources that should be included just shoot me a tweet and let me know. Enjoy!

Images

Pond5 images: includes public domain; all royalty-free

Unsplash: "free (do whatever you want) high-res photos"

Morguefile: a classic

Raumrot: high quality photos, all free, CC-BY license (must give credit)

Pixabay: another classic, free to use anywhere. CC0 license - alter, do whatever, no credit necessary

StockSnap.io: abstract and people, mostly. CC0

Negative Space: another CC0 license site. Nice stuff but fairly small collection. Good organization.

FoodiesFeed: precisely what it sounds like... stock footage of food or cooking-related implements

Life of Pix: again, small, but good quality

Realistic Shots: very modern blog-y but great. Instagram-y but high quality and not square.

Free Nature Stock: exactly what it sounds like: nature stock photos to use however you like.

Magdeline: "hand-picked photos for your inspiration]"

Public Domain Archive: pretty nice photos and all public domain (CC0, basically)

freeimages.red: more CC0 license photos. Nice ones, actually.

Audio

Video

Pond5: also does videos

Pond5: believe it or not, also does Adobe After Effects! Pretty cool.

Pixabay: another classic, free to use anywhere. CC0 license - alter, do whatever, no credit necessary

Pexels: totally free stock videos

Vimeo: specifically, videos tagged with the CC0 license. Good for cutting, I think.

Distill: lots of great royalty-free videos for emphasis/ambiance more than anything. Very cool.

Mazwai: very similar to Distill but more emphasis on subject rather than ambiance

Game resources

OpenGameArt: royalty-free gaming resources like sprites, effects, artwork, even sound effects

Game Art 2D: royalty free 2D game assets

Kenney: (nearly all CC0) game assets

Ludic Arts: free, royalty-free game art like tilesets, sprites, GUI elements and icons

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Creative Commons "Zero" Media Resources for Instructors, Students, and Designers

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Initially, I put this list together for my students, but then thought I'd share it with a (ahem) wider audience. This list is far from perfect and my brief descriptions are little more than initial feelings in some cases, but it's a start.

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On March 29th 2018, The University of Arizona Library organized a workshop for students, instructors and administrators who want to learn more about the development and implementation of OERs in higher education. This recorded presentation provides LPDs with useful information concerning the development and use of open materials.

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Ways to lower the cost of course materials

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Ways to lower the cost of course materials

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This document created and shared by The University of Arizona Libraries offers concrete steps about how instructors and LPD can reduce the cost of required materials to students. LPDs can discover some existing resources that they might not be aware of and support open education.

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Ways to Lower the Cost of Course Materials_0.pdf

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This website offers various digital game-mediated classroom learning activities for different languages and levels. LPDs can integrate these activities when developing OERs for language courses.

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Games2Teach offers free downloadable classroom activities. To download a copy, please enter your name and email in the form below, select the check box next to the activity you would like to download, and click "submit" at the bottom of the page. A pdf will be sent to you within twenty-four hours.

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Enhancing technology use and training in FL instruction

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Enhancing technology use and training in FL instruction

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This digital presentation, shared at the L2DL & AZCALL 2016 conference, considers GTAs and LPDs approach and use of technology in language teaching and professional development. In this study although technology is generally perceived in a positive way, GTAs have expressed difficulties in using technology tools efficiently. The authors present a 6-step model, involving various departments, LPDs and GTAs, to further support the implementation of technology in language teaching. Since the creation of OERs for language teaching includes the use of technology, with this video LPDs can understand more about how they can assist and encourage GTAs in the use of technology in the language classroom.

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Gaspar et al - Enhancing Technology Use and Training in Foreign Language Instruction L2DL AZCALL

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The Foreign Languages and the Literary in the Everyday (FLLITE) website offers teachers with a variety of lesson plans and materials that can be used, revised and adapted according to a specific language curriculum. LPDs who want to replace the traditional textbook with open materials will find numerous resources, which aim to bridge the language/literature divide, in the various languages on FLLITE.

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Foreign Languages & the Literary in the Everyday - helping students to make meaning

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Voices for openness in language learning

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Voices for openness in language learning

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This website is an online community of language instructors and language learners who share their experiences in using OERs in the educational context. LPDs can gain insights about how OERs have been used in a variety of contexts and various languages, access many high quality OERs, and better understand the benefits that open education can bring to learners and educators.

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Voices for Openness in Language Learning | Stories of collaborating on open educational resources for foreign language education

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We are a world-wide community of collaborators - forward-thinking students, educators, content developers, and technologists carrying the banner of Open Education in language learning. From first-time Yoruba language student to the editor of a world languages website, we are people who are excited about Open Educational Resources (OER).

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H5P: Create interactive language activities

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H5P: Create interactive language activities

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This article illustrates how H5P, a free to use website, can be used by instructors and LPDs for the creation of interactive and mobile-friendly activities, which can be integrated in course management systems or websites. Examples of activities that can be created are quizzes and interactive videos followed by formative assessment. This is a great resource for LPDs who are considering developing free to use online learning materials to be used by students outside of the classroom.

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By Shannon Spasova, Assistant Professor of Russian and Technology Specialist in the Center for Language Teaching Advancement, Michigan State University.
H5P is a free application by Joubel that allows you to create a variety of interactive and mobile-friendly activities that can be integrated into your course management system or website. The site offers around 30 activity types, including a number of well-established question types, such as multiple choice, fill in the blanks, and true/false, as well as some more unique options such as interactive video, drag and drop, personality quiz, speak the words, and timeline.

Accounts are free , and plugins are available for WordPress, Moodle, or Drupal. Integrations with other course management systems are reported to be coming as early as 2017.

In this summary, I will focus on one activity type - Interactive Video, since it incorporates a number of other activity types, and is likely to be attractive to language teachers because of its flexibility and ability to incorporate authentic materials, including listening.
H5P Interactive Videos are based on one or more videos that are either uploaded or linked. Teachers can base Interactive Videos on instructional videos that they themselves have created, or use authentic videos from YouTube or Vimeo Pro. Some of the biggest advantages of the application are the ability to include formative assessment immediately after a topic has been presented, as well as the ability to include commentary without interrupting the flow of the original video.

H5P has a number of customizable settings that can determine how the video behaves (you can have the video start at a certain timestamp, or silence the audio if desired, as just two examples), and can also include a text track such as subtitles or captions. You can then begin to add interactions. Interactions can be static elements such as a label, text, an image, a table, or a link. All elements can be resized and moved around on the screen, and there are many options such as whether the video pauses when the interaction appears, or whether it appears open on the screen or as a button that needs to be clicked by the viewer.

Several quiz question types can also appear at appropriate times during the video, and the question types available include multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blanks, drag and drop, mark words, drag text, and questionnaire. You can also allow viewers to go to a certain spot in the video based on a choice, with bookmarks created by the lesson author, or based on the learner clicking on a certain spot on the screen. Most of the interaction types are extremely flexible and allow the lesson author to determine how they will behave, offering the opportunity to provide targeted feedback.

Figure 5 - The palette used to insert interactions into the video. Blue dots are static elements such as text or images and red dots are quiz questions.

Figure 6 - The view when you are creating an interactive element.

One of the particularly unique features of Interactive Video is the ability to add some measure of personalization and adaptivity to the activities. "Crossroads" set up the ability to skip learners back to a section that they need to review in order to answer a question or forward to offer them choices in how they move through the material. Navigation hotspots can also allow a variety of paths through the material, whether by personal preference or some other criteria. Interactive Video also allows teachers to create customization based on performance. For example, if learners get all elements of a formative assessment right, they can jump ahead in the video.

H5P's activities use HTML5, which means that they can be used on mobile devices, and generally do a good job of adapting to various screen sizes. This will be an essential feature for the future as students increasingly use mobile devices instead of computers.

One drawback of H5P is that unless you are using one of the platforms with native plugins (WordPress, Moodle, Drupal), you cannot retrieve any student data from their completion of activities unless you have access to a Learning Record Store (LRS). H5P puts out xAPI data, a data standard used most often by elearning software, but most course management systems are not yet equipped to collect this data. This means that for the time being many teachers will need to consider this mostly a tool for self-assessment rather than more formal evaluation, though more course management system integrations are certainly coming.

Interactive Video is just one of the almost 30 activity types offered by H5P, and with its mobile capabilities and its rapidly growing community, the application promises to gain popularity in the future, providing teachers the exciting opportunity to create interactive web experiences for their students.

You can see an example of an interactive video at the url below. Note that due to the settings of the original video, this video may not be viewable on mobile devices:

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H5P: Create Interactive Language Activities - The FLTMAG

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By Shannon Spasova, Assistant Professor of Russian and Technology Specialist in the Center for Language Teaching Advancement, Michigan State University. H5P is a free application by Joubel that allows you to create a variety of interactive and mobile-friendly activities that can be integrated into your course management system or website.

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How most OERs fail to meet the UNESCO definition

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How most OERs fail to meet the UNESCO definition

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When LPDs decide to create and use OERs as the principal materials in language courses they need to carefully consider how they are using open licenses. In this YouTube video the author explains that there are significant inconsistencies between the concept of openness, free sharing, and digital OERs. The development and sharing of OERs by LPDs and language instructors should be thought through so that it really embraces the open education movement.

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How most Open Educational Resources fail to meet the UNESCO definition of OER

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Digital materials for today’s knowledge ecology

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Digital materials for today’s knowledge ecology

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This YouTube video developed by COERLL at the The University of Texas at Austin provides a practical example concerning a French teacher, Joanna, and the challenges and successes she experienced in using OERs in her own courses. The author also explains that OERs research is gaining ground, thus LPDs need to consider how they can develop open resources that will be used by teachers and students, as well as shared with others.

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Open Educational Resources (OER): Digital Materials for Today’s Knowledge Ecology

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In this article the author explains how OERs can support Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs). The author explains that open education is still an unfamiliar concept to many faculty members in higher education institutions, including LCTLs instructors. There is a need to raise awareness about open education and instructors can collaborate with colleagues and students to produce and share their own high quality materials. LPDs can use this article understand more the importance of OERs in language education.

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This article describes two case studies. The first one concerns the development of an open repository consisting of pedagogical materials for the Department of Languages, at the UK Open University. The second study addresses issues related to using language corpora in relation to open technologies and open practices. These examples can support future LPDs who are considering implementing OERs and can learn from other people's experiences.

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The case of Français Interactif and Deutsch im Blick

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The case of Français Interactif and Deutsch im Blick

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This YouTube video illustrates the development and impact of Français Interactif and Deutsch im Blick, two large-scale OER produced by the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL). The presentation also addresses how COERLL is supporting the shift from the traditional language textbook to open, innovative, and multimodal practices for language teaching and learning. This resource can be used by LPDs to get an inside perspective about the development and use use of OERs materials in language courses.

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OER for Foreign Language Learning: The Case of Français interactif and Deutsch im Blick

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This article on FLTMAG presents an overview of the Mixxer website, which is a free language exchange site where learners can find and connect with native speakers. When an LPD decides to implement OERs, it might be difficult to find online learning resources that can be used by students outside of the classroom. On the Mixxer students can chat with native speakers, improve their speaking skills and also share written pieces and receive feedback. All these activities can be accomplished and no cost, thus reducing the cost of textbooks to students and increasing the access to native speakers. On a side note, some languages are less popular than others on the Mixxer; thus it is a good strategy to explore and see how language courses can take advantage of this platform.

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By Todd Bryant, Language Technology Specialist, Dickinson College.
The Mixxer website ( www.language-exchanges.org ) is a social networking site designed to help language learners find a language partner. The idea is that each user can provide practice and feedback in their native language in exchange for help with their target language. The site provides many of the same functions as Facebook including the ability to add someone as a friend and send chat messages. The difference is the search for other users is based on their native language(s) and the language(s) they are learning. For those looking to find a partner, my suggestion is to send messages to 5-10 other users mentioning days and times they are available and their Skype name. Native English and German speakers are in very high demand. Spanish, French, and Japanese speakers are also popular; however, speakers of less commonly taught languages such as Arabic, Russian, or Indonesian may find it difficult to find a partner.

The website also has a writing section. Unlike the speaking portion, learners do not need to find a partner. There is a link at the top of the site to "Write". I would recommend keeping it short, no more than two paragraphs, and remember to select the language before submitting. Native speakers of this language will then see the post and correct it.

In the spirit of exchange, writers are asked to correct any posts awaiting feedback in their native language. To make the writing submissions easier to correct, the site divides any posts into paragraphs and provides buttons below each paragraph to view corrections, mark as perfect, or add a correction. The vast majority of posts in every language receive feedback from native speakers. Of course, these are native speakers, but not instructors, so corrections are usually offered without explanation. For instructors interested in tracking students' submissions, I would suggest adding them as friends on the site. The student profile pages will then all be accessible under the My Friends tab. Each profile page includes a link to My Writing.
Updates
The site received several updates this academic year. The first is the replacement of the old messaging system with one that allows live-chat. Learners can now find potential partners, see who is online, and then start a chat. If users are offline, the chat is saved to an inbox and the recipient will receive an email notifying them.

We have also added a badge and "thank you" system. Learners receive badges for writing, correcting, sending messages and adding friends. User can also recommend or say "thank you" to other users by clicking the thumbs-up icon on their profile page. The badges are intended to give new users an idea of how to use the site and as a way of recognizing active users, especially those who complete selfless tasks such as correcting other people's writing.
Teachers
Teachers have possibilities to connect their students with language partners and have access to functions only available only to them. If you would like to become a teacher, send me an email at bryantt@dickinson.edu , let me know where you teach as well as the language(s) your students speak and are learning.
Students Find their own Partner
The first option is to let students find partners and Skype with them on their own. They create their own account, specify their languages, and send messages to potential partners. To keep track, they can either send the instructor an email, submit a blog post, or even a "Writing" if you would like native speakers to correct their summary of the exchange.

The advantage to this approach is that it does not require any class time and very little setup. On the negative side, be prepared for some students saying they were unable to contact their partner. With the possible exception of German learners, native English speakers are in extremely high demand. They can absolutely find a partner, but that does not mean they may not face a minor challenge or two. Internet connections are not always reliable around the world and some people may not meet at an agreed upon time. When assigning exchanges to students, we keep the deadlines quite open, perhaps 3-4 exchanges per month. If students send 10 messages to potential partners following the guidelines I mentioned earlier, they should not have any trouble finding a few reliable partners.

If you do decide to have students look for language partners on their own, send me an email . My address is on the front page of the site. I can give you a link that limits the search to users who have signed up for our events. These users are generally frequent users of the site, and therefore tend to be more reliable and experienced with having exchanges with students.
Class-to-Class Exchanges
The second option is to search for other teachers to organize a class-to-class exchange. There are some advantages with doing a class exchange. Students can work and learn together over time, form relationships, and collaborate on a joint project. We have found this arrangement to be the most difficult, however. Class hours, semester schedules, computer lab availability and varying course goals can make it challenging to maintain class-to-class partnerships over time.

If you do decide for a class-to-class exchange, send me an email, and I will make you a "teacher" on the site. You will then be able to search for other teachers and contact them via the site. You may want to check out UNI-Collaboration ( http://uni-collaboration.eu/ ) as well. Regardless of where you find a partner, try to be as flexible as possible with a very broad goal of increasing speaking and cross-cultural understanding. It will be easier to add specific course content and other aspects once you have successfully navigated a semester with your partner class.
Events - Exchanges during a Lab Hour
The third option is what we call an "Event". We use this option for most of our beginning and intermediate courses in French, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. An event is simply a sign-up sheet posted on the Mixxer site for a language exchange at a given day and time. The event is then announced to users matching a specific language profile. For example, we may have a Spanish class interested in doing an exchange during their lab hour on Friday from 8:30-9:20. An event page is created describing the exchange along with the day and time and a Sign Up button. The instructor then sends an announcement, in this case to native Spanish speakers learning English, with a brief description a link to the event page with its Sign Up button. On the day of the exchange, the instructor then chats the native speakers on Skype to confirm their presence and assigns each to a student as they respond.

The advantage of doing events is the convenience and flexibility for the instructor. An event can be created quickly and announced a few days in advance. The disadvantage is students are unlikely to speak with the same person twice. A certain percentage, usually a little over a third, of native speakers who registered will also not attend. To address this problem, we limit the number of users who can sign up to about one and a half times the number of our students. Extra students or native speakers can be added into a three-person call. We have found it much easier to have two of our students and one native speaker in Skype call as opposed to the other way around.

If you decide to try an event, send me an email as well . I will walk you through the process of setting up and announcing your first event. Prior to the exchange, students should be comfortable logging into Skype (we use accounts for specifically this purpose), adding a contact and calling. For beginners and lower-intermediate learners, I would also recommend they come with at least 30 conversational questions to avoid those awkward silent pauses.
Conclusion
There are several ways to integrate language exchanges into you course. We have had success and difficulties with all three; however, in each case the students have gained valuable practice and overall greatly enjoyed their experiences. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me either via email at bryantt@dickinson.edu or @bryantt on Twitter. I am happy to share tips as well as stories of past successes and failures.

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By Todd Bryant, Language Technology Specialist, Dickinson College. The Mixxer website ( www.language-exchanges.org ) is a social networking site designed to help language learners find a language partner. The idea is that each user can provide practice and feedback in their native language in exchange for help with their target language.

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When LPDs decide to use OERs as the main materials for language courses, they might experience difficulties and concerns from faculty and administrators. This document presents the top 12 objections towards OERs, for instance the quality of materials and the belief that they might infringe on faculty’s academic freedom. LPDs who choose to implement OERs in language courses can use the information in this document to create a stronger case about their choice to implement open resources.

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This website is divided in four lessons, plus an introduction and a conclusion. Through videos and written explanations, it presents how technology can aid in the learning of foreign languages, how technology can create a virtual context for learners and it discuss the potential of technology to increase the exposure to a foreign language. LPDs can use this website to train new instructors and prepare them to integrate technology in their teaching practices and language classes.

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Foreign Language Teaching Methods: Technology

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Professional development modules for foreign language instruction at the high-school and college levels.

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This handbook provides an introduction to Open Educational Resources, including licensing, online repositories, how to remix content and much more. It can be used as a basic reference for LPDs who desire to implement OERs in basic language courses.