Open Culture is a central location that compiles and provides access to a directory of all of the online digital learning resources that are now accessible to anyone for free on the internet.
Dan Coleman, then a dean at Stanford, is responsible for the conception and launch of the program in 2006. The initial concept was to establish a central location on the internet that would compile a list of the numerous educational resources that are freely accessible via the Internet.
Since that time, obviously, this has expanded significantly, but thanks to a group of editors, the site is kept up to date with a wide variety of helpful educational resources. There is a wide variety of content available, ranging from free audio recordings to material designed specifically for grades K-12. So, how exactly can you use this in your schooling right this minute?
What is the Open Culture?
Open Culture is essentially a list that compiles, in one location, all of the beneficial educational resources that are freely accessible elsewhere on the internet. That can be applied to a diverse assortment of cultural contexts and topics, as its very name suggests, which shows the breadth of its applicability.
This website has been online for about twenty years, yet the design hasn’t altered all that much in that time. As a result, both the appearance and the layout are fairly antiquated, and there are a great number of resources listed in a manner that makes it seem like an impossible task to browse through them all.
The good news is that the website comes with an optional email newsletter that compiles recently published content for some of the top current recommendations that are worth checking out. Everything is provided at no cost to the user. Therefore, if you are using an ad blocker, you may be presented with a pop-up that requests that you give serious consideration to disabling it so that the website can generate revenue to pay its staff and cover its operating costs.
How does Open Culture function?
Because utilizing Open Culture does not require any type of payment or registration, you are not required to provide any kind of personal information in order to get started using it right away.
When you first visit the site, you will be presented with a selection of educational resources that could prove to be beneficial to you. You can refine your search criteria by using the subheadings that are located across the top of the page. Some of the available options include content that is targeted to grades K-12, audio recordings, ebooks, movies, podcasts, courses, languages, and more.
If you go to any of these, you’ll see a list of links; clicking on any of them will take you away from this website and to the corresponding resource. Therefore, the website itself does not include any material; rather, it merely provides connections to other websites that do provide the information. If you intend to browse a few links, it is best to open this page in a new tab or window so that you do not lose the website that contains the original list.
Before allowing you to proceed to investigate the topic in greater detail, each link provides you with a brief explanation of what you will find if you click on that particular link.
What do you consider to be the most useful aspects of Open Culture?
Because Open Culture is a completely free choice, it enlightens users to the fact that the internet is home to an abundance of excellent educational resources; all that is required is the ability to track them out. Which you will be able to do with a fair amount of ease as a result of this.
You could run a search on Google to find them, but if you haven’t uncovered something by this point, how can you look for it online? This grants you access to gems that you might not have even known existed, let alone deemed to be of any use to your class.
Because of the lockdown, this website has been able to expand even more, as its popularity and usefulness have increased among individuals who have been confined to their homes. You now have access to a large assortment of resources for elementary, middle, and high school education, in addition to other topics.
There is a plethora of options available, including free video conferencing facilities provided by Zoom and free online drawing lessons, as well as free museum visits and the National Emergency Library. Then there are the audio and ebooks sections, which include a variety of content including audible stories, books on history, comic books on physics, free courses, performances of classical music, and more.
Because everything is written out in a very straightforward manner and is straightforward to comprehend, it is a wonderful location for educators to find valuable knowledge. Still, it is also a useful place for students to browse and enjoy the treasure trove of content that is also available. As was noted, receiving the newsletter by email is a wonderful method to learn more without having to rummage through all of the options that are accessible.
How much does it cost to subscribe to Open Culture?
Open Culture is available without charge. You are not necessarily to make a payment, and you are not forced to submit any personal information because you are not obliged to create an account, nor can you create one.
The website does make use of some advertising as a means of contributing to its funding. You are free to have your ad blocker enabled, but each time you load a new page, you will be given the option to disable it. You are also able to make donations to the website in order to assist in keeping it accessible free of charge.
The most useful Open Culture hints and tips
Join us!
Have everyone in the class sign up for the email so that you may all receive the updates at the same time. After that, discuss the latest results each week in class and encourage everyone to share something that they have discovered.
Explore the area
When considering options for your next step in education with your class, you can consult the interactive map that shows the works of literature that are required to be read in universities all across the world.
