Rebecca Morales is the Secondary Science Instructional Specialist at Broken Arrow Public Schools in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Her background as a science teacher, content specialist, and doctoral student trying to further understand OER affords her unique perspective in the work that she leads in her district. I wanted to talk with Rebecca to hear about the work that she started several years ago when their district decided to not pursue a traditional textbook in science and how that has created a ripple effect throughout other content areas. 

If you want to learn more about how to get started with OER, please check out the New America project site called PreK-12 OER in Practice at newamerica.org/prek12oer. Here you’ll find information about how districts are doing this, including a map of districts using OER, as well as resources for getting started in your search, and for professional learning. You’ll also find the  #GoOpen District Launch Packet, which outlines the five most common phases of rolling out this type of work in a district. 

Broken Arrow Public Schools’ OER content: https://docs.google.com/document/d/126z-B5iHsYoR0STsJRxknVPA8YbdRdLuvlTIlg5hIvs/edit?pref=2&pli=1

Rebecca Morale’s Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/moralesandbee