I think the new layout is very bad for teachers and students.

Hayden - Thanks for the feedback and I'm sorry that you find the layout challenging. While the old layout did allow you to see EVERYTHING that we offered, we had a lot of teachers say that it didn't really provide the instructional design - or the what do I teach first - approach that they needed. It's definitely going to be a learning curve to get acclimated to the new system, but we are here to help. If it would be helpful for a member of our team to hop on a call with your PLC and walk you through the changes in depth, just reach out to team@oerproject.com and we can set up a time to connect. 

I just accidentally stumbled upon the old curriculum and was so excited thinking it was the new one reorganized.  

Since the new layout doesn't let you see everything anymore, is there a list somewhere of everything to do in chronological order? 

I really prefer the old layout - is it going to be leaving the website anytime soon (i.e. should I download everything??) or can I just keep using the old curriclum?

Hi Kendra Nielsen  We do have full outlines for each course, showing everything laid out in chronological order: You can find them in the "teaching this course" section of each course homepage. For example, here is the 1200 course outline: https://www.oerproject.com/OER-Materials/OER-Media/PDFs/WHP-1200/Teacher-Resources/1200-Course-Outline 

If there's any specific materials you're missing from the old curriculum, they can be easily downloaded here in our course archive on Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xpOAj-fqhEDtO9CSjEhe46bw82srEEGj 

I know changes like this are frustrating and definitely have a learning curve. And while we lose the all-up view of all materials on a single page, we think a lot is gained in the new view: Materials are arranged more thoughtfully in these lessons, keeping the narrative a bit tighter. Each article and activity is now downloadable as a word doc, offering the chance for teachers to make edits and adjustments to fit the needs of their classroom. We edited every activity to make directions clearer and less verbose. 

And while stuff has moved, if you have any questions in any course, unit, lesson, or lesson step, you can click on "the hammer" (the blue circle with a hammer in it), which includes differentiation guides, links to the relevant sections of each lesson guides, sample answers, and so on.

Please don't hesitate to reach out with more feedback or questions.

Thank you - the Outline is exactly what I needed. Now that I see it, I have no idea how I overlooked it. Thank you. 

Kendra Nielsen The previous version of the Big History course will be available for this school year, then it will no longer be available. So, yes please download anything you'd like to keep!

 Hayden George I understand your feelings because it took me some time and effort to learn how to navigate the new layout. That said, the old layout was overwhelming, with multiple options—some of which were repetitive. What I did with my teacher colleague was keep the materials and activities from the old layout that were still useful and select the ones we wanted to keep (the old layout is still accesible).

What I found extremely helpful are the purposeful ad hoc activities in each unit. I teach Big History, and my students previously struggled to grasp some concepts because I had to lecture and create my own activities. Now, I’ve streamlined the process and incorporated pertinent activities that help students check for understanding. Overall, this approach has made teaching more efficient and learning more engaging for my students. I hope you will give it a try.