In the context of OER, localization refers to the process of taking educational resources developed for one context and adapting them for other contexts. These contexts can, for example, be geographical, pedagogical, political, or technical. The practice of localization encompasses more than the translation of materials into a local language or swapping a photo to reflect a culture. Localization is at the heart of the OER process—it exemplifies diversity, openness, and reusability.
No matter where you live or what you teach, when you modify open and freely shared materials for your own use, you are localizing the materials. There are many reasons why educators and learners localize materials. Here are a few:
- To address a particular teaching style or learning style
- To adapt for a different grade level
- To adapt for a different discipline
- To adjust for a different learning environment
- To address diversity needs
- To address a cultural preference
- To support a specific pedagogical need
- To address either a school or a district’s standardized curriculum
What all these examples have in common is the ability to customize materials to meet unique teaching and learning needs. The OER process of localizing materials is an empowering activity: those using the materials can customize them the way they want. Materials found in an OER repository such as OER Commons are different from materials received from a publisher. OER materials most often have licenses for conditions of use that make them customizable to meet local teaching and learning needs. Most publisher materials cannot be modified.
When you use materials found in an OER repository, modify them, and share back the modifications you made, you are practicing the OER process. You are both localizing the materials for your own needs as well as making them freely available to other educators and learners around the world. Sharing back the modifications you made furthers understanding of how the material was adapted.
OER stories from around the world
Inga is a community college teacher in Denmark looking for new ways to present a lesson about using patterns in graphic design.
A lesson plan travels across the world several times, being customized for each local teaching and learning need.
Your experience using open and freely shared course-related materials is valuable in the reuse and evolution of the materials. Tell us your story; how you’ve used these materials and how their use has impacted how you teach or learn.
Creating original materials to share
As previously mentioned, localization is part of the OER process: it is the way for individuals to contribute their perspectives and contextual experiences within an educational resource. The materials you create and share are a valuable resource for others to use or build upon. These materials help extend OER into becoming both a scalable and sustainable practice.
While creating materials for your own educational use, it may be difficult to imagine how someone in a different circumstance in another part of the world may want to use your material. However, if you keep the following tips in mind while you are creating these materials for sharing, it can assist in making the modification process easier for the next person who wants to customize them for their own use.
- Document file format: Create materials in the most flexible formats available. HTML is one of the most widely available formats—HTML documents can be viewed with any web browser and the files are easily modifiable. Another popular format for document creation is Microsoft Word. Because Microsoft Word is a commercial product, some people may not own this program. Instead of saving your material as a Word document (.doc format), save the Microsoft Word document as a text (.txt) file or a rich text format file (.rtf). Both .txt and .rtf formats can be opened with any word-processing program.
- Design: Keep the design of your materials simple. Following W3C’s 10 Quick Tips to Make Accessible Web Sites, will help make your materials accessible to those with disabilities.
- Share: Make your materials easy to find by submitting them to an OER repository like OER Commons. This helps others find your materials because they can be searched by many factors, such as keywords, grade level, subject area, or type of material.
- License: License your materials using a Creative Commons license so others can use, re-use, or remix your work.
"This "course" is a tutorial and rationale for open education"