Black Hills Special Services Cooperative

Technology and Innovation in Education, a division of the Black Hills Special Services Cooperative - in collaboration with the State Libraries of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming will enhance the expertise and leadership of rural school librarians in the three-state region and create a process for replication that other rural regions might adapt. Participants will develop skills needed to utilize open education resources (OER), to integrate digital applications into professional practices, and to serve as instructional leaders in their schools. Building expertise in OER becomes essential in rural school districts where budget cuts threaten not only school libraries but up-to-date course content. Expertise in OER curation and creation addresses the challenge of providing quality resources despite financial concerns. Throughout the project, all sessions will be designed to build participant competencies in using OER so that they will be able to return to their schools as instructional leaders who can: communicate the qualities of an effective OER; identify and utilize tools for curation; curate and create OER content.