The Monterey Institute for Technology and Education (MITE) has announced that its online learning method called, ‘Open Educational Resources’ (OER), is becoming more popular with educational institutions attempting to meet non-negotiable guidelines defined by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to enhance teacher effectiveness, mold students for college and careers, boost data gathering systems and bring low performing schools up to a bare minimum benchmark standard.

"The intention of OER is to improve teaching worldwide. Everyone is entitled to an education no matter where they live or what their circumstances are," said Gary Lopez, Executive Director of MITE. "OER content can be readily adapted to meet local needs - whether in an online, blended or face to face classroom environment."

President Barack Obama has talked about the dire need for improving and restructuring the education system in the U.S. from kindergarten to the 12th grade.

“In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity - it is a pre-requisite,” said Obama on Feb. 24, 2009. “The countries that out-teach us today will out-compete us tomorrow.”

He has backed his statements by signing into law the ARRA, 2009 on February 17 by allotting nearly one eighth of ARRA’s fund allocation, which is approximately $ 100 billion out of the grand total of $ 787 billion, for education and related scope of work.

Officials at MITE claim that school authorities and governing agencies are currently having a difficult time juggling with available funds and also meeting the stringent demands of ARRA. Simultaneously, they are also making significant efforts to best use ARRA’s generous fund allocation, and one such leverage tool is possibly OER, which offers high quality educational matter free of cost to anyone with access to the internet, officials say.

"Online learning is the single most important investment to make a difference for kids - it works, and if you invest in OER, that content will always be available," said Susan Patrick, President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). "The ARRA funding is a once in a lifetime opportunity for states to build or expand their virtual schools."

MITE sources claim that online classes cater to a huge cross section of learners such as people with permanent or temporary disabilities, those under quarantine because of Swine Flu, uneducated older people who are forced to hold jobs but desperately want to get an education and those who require to access online classes at a time suiting their convenience.

Online classes place all students on an identical high quality platform with the same curriculum, elective and advanced placement coursework, say officials, and an excellent innovation is learning aid tools that help students succeed at classes they've previously failed.

Some States are already accessing OER via the National Repository of Online Courses (NROC) membership, which entitles their schools, students and teachers

“Our NROC membership will allow us to provide online advanced placement coursework for students and to create 21st century classrooms with high quality content," said Cathy Poplin, Deputy Associate Superintendent for Education Technology at the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). “It helps address the equity issues in rural areas for underserved students."

Officials claim that all NROC syllabi are designed to suit any media requirement of a student such as interactive simulations, flash objects and iPod downloads, and subject matter is available in separate modules that are aligned with standard textbooks in accordance with state defined guidelines.

Improvements to NROC educational content are achieved using collaborative social authoring tools, and the project itself is supported by a grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, say officials.

“ARRA is a great opportunity to accelerate the OER movement," said Barbara Chow, Education Program Director for The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. "It works, it is cost effective, it improves instruction and it can have a profound impact on improving student outcomes."