A simple, quick and painless way to start the writing process in-class

1. G I N O F R A N S M A N
N E L S O N M A N D E L A M E T R O P O L I T A N
U N I V E R S I T Y ( N M M U )
A C A D E M I C L I T E R A C I E S A N D W R I T I N G
How to use an Open Educational
Resource (OER) in your teaching
and learning practice: Writing
How to use an OER in your teaching and learning practice: Writing
by Gino Fransman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

2. One example found via:
OER Commons
 Use OER: try this free online rubric to get students reflecting on content
you need them to engage with.
 http://www.oercommons.org/courses/primary-source-analysis-tool/view
 Facilitates to Observe, Reflect, Question – each common
instructional words encountered in academic writing
 Cues to respond to under each instructional word
 Build a response one cue at a time, structures response
 Email the completed draft writing (to student and educator if selected)
 Excellent facility to review and edit draft writing electronically, and then
to submit

3. The 8 writing prompts under ‘Reflect’
1. What was the purpose of this text?
2. Who created it?
3. Who do you think was its audience?
4. Can you tell anything about what was important at
the time it was made?
5. What tools and materials were used to create it?
6. What is the larger story or context within which this
was printed?
7. What can you learn from examining this?
8. If someone created this today, what would be
different?
There are other prompts under Observe and Question...

4.  The book, The History of Mankind, looks at the evolution of man, from a
scientific perspective. It is therefore strange that a Christian priest wrote this
book. The intended audience may have been scientists seeking a theological
perspective, it’s not clear. At the time the book was written, in 2005, severe
religious tensions had begun to spread around the world. His perspective was
fuelled largely by the increased popularity of using social media. The book does
seem compiled through lots of research, which is intimidating at times. This was
also the subject of its greatest criticism. The book tries to tell the larger human
story, but fails as it appears stuck in religion, or more specifically, in Christianity.
It does not even acknowledge previous religions in human history. We can all
learn that perspectives are just that, perspectives. People will always have
something they prioritise as the truth. It needn't always require group approval
to be important to someone. If the book had been written today (2015), instead of
in 2005, it would probably be written in sms spelling, and ask people to
contribute their opinions while it was being written. This would have been far
more relevant to what many think today, instead of what this book really is, the
opinion of one man.
An example of a written submission, after following the 8
guiding questions under ‘reflect’.
1 Sentence per prompt resulted in this

5. Scoopit Curation Pages:
http://www.scoop.it/t/academic-literacy-development
&
http://www.scoop.it/t/21st-century-graduate-literacies

6. Try it for yourself,
and explore it for student writing tasks.
Gino Fransman
Academic Development Professional
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU)
Centre for Teaching Learning and Media (CTLM)
Summerstrand South Campus
Building 10, Office -01 14
Tel: +27 (0)41 504 2927
Email: Gino.Fransman@nmmu.ac.za
Twitter: @ginofransman
How to use an OER in your teaching and learning practice: Writing
by Gino Fransman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
International License.