Call for Content - Social Studies
Call for Online Content
SOCIAL STUDIES 10 – 11; HISTORY 12; GEOGRAPHY 12; LAW 12; GLOBAL EDUCATION 12; COMPARATIVE CIVILIZATIONS 12
BCEd Online is conducting a provincial review of online social studies content that supports the BC secondary social studies curriculum. As part of this process, we're inviting content developers to submit online Social Studies content for review and evaluation by a team of online learning and curriculum specialists. Accepted content will recieve a seal and be included in the ERC (Educator's Resource Centre).
If you have, or know of, online social studies content that is of good quality and should be reviewed by BCEd Online, please contact info@bcedonline.ca for an application.
WHO MAY SUBMIT CONTENT FOR REVIEW?
Under this Call for Online Social Studies Content, content developers may be:
- Individual teachers, students, parents or administrators
- BC Schools
- BC School districts
- Online/distributed learning service providers in the BC K-12 system
- Private sector vendors of educational courseware
WHAT CAN BE SUBMITTED FOR REVIEW?
This Call applies to content which supports delivery of the BC secondary social studies curriculum: Social Studies 10-11; History 12; Geography 12; Law 12; Global Education 12 and Comparative Civilizations 12. We will accept and review:
- full online social studies courses now in use at the secondary level in BC
- digital social studies resources or components of online social studies courses, including digital learning objects, used either online, in computer labs or as supplementary learning resources in classroom delivery of social studies courses
- online social studies content available from external sources, including private vendors and other secondary school educators across Canada
You should only submit content if you own it or if you have permission from the owner to submit it to the review teams. Content submitted for review will not be shared with, used by or distributed to anyone other than members of the BCEd Online content review teams without the express written consent of the content owners.
WHO WILL REVIEW THE CONTENT AND WHAT PROCESS WILL BE USED?
All content will be reviewed and rated by a team of curriculum specialists and subject matter experts including teachers, instructional designers and online content development specialists. Content will be reviewed against the Standards for K-12 Distributed Learning In British Columbia.
WHY SHOULD BC CONTENT DEVELOPERS AND EDUCATORS PARTICIPATE IN THIS REVIEW?
The purpose of the review is to identify and inventory high quality online Social Studies content that matches the BC curriculum for Social Studies at the secondary level. BCEd Online is working with the Open School to house content which has been vetted through this process in the Open School’s Educators’ Resource Centre (ERC). This will facilitate province-wide access to high quality content suitable for delivery in a range of distributed learning environments. All BCEd Online members will now have access to the ERC. Through a Commons License Agreement, public sector content providers will also be able to access all shared content available through the ERC. They will also be able to have their content reviewed, at no cost. Should their content be accepted, public sector providers will be invited to include their content in the ERC after signing a licensing agreement. Vendors will be asked to pay a $1000 fee for the Content Review Service (to offset costs). Should their content be accepted they can choose to enter into a licensing agreement with BCEd Online and then have their content included in the ERC.
This Online Social Studies Content Review is an important step in a larger project through which BCEd Online is working to promote, foster and facilitate a culture of collaboration and sharing within the K-12 online content development and delivery communities. We are supporting the creation of a management system for online content through which:
- well-established content development groups will be encouraged to collaborate regularly and to share their content
- individuals, schools or districts involved in online content development activities will be able to access support services, including financial support
- individuals, schools or districts can access mechanisms through which they can promote and share their content with others in the system.
By submitting your content for review and evaluation, you will be making a valuable contribution to this new provincial initiative designed to identify and inventory high quality online learning content for BC social studies students.
If you have questions or concerns about this process or would like additional information, please feel free to contact us. Online content reviews for other curriculum areas (English, Planning, Sciences etc.) will be announced in 2007.
