OPEN Clearinghouse Web Page

by the OPEN Team

Ever since its inception last November, the OPEN Clearinghouse (OPEN) has been operating without an "official" Web site. Early on in the project we established a temporary web-presence, dubbed the "Notepad," dedicated to support communication between the various OPEN Clearinghouse program specialists, contractors, the OPEN Instructional Network Group (OPEN-ING), and others. But we wanted to avoid a site full of "Under Construction" banners and ensure that when it did go public the OPEN site would be a useful and reliable resource. Though we still have pages under construction as well as ongoing projects we feel that the OPEN Clearinghouse is ready to begin supporting Oregon's k-12 teachers. As a result, our Web site is now up and running, and we invite your feedback.

Those of you who already have bookmarked the original OPEN homepage have a head start, since we've decided to make that site the base of the OPEN Clearinghouse. That original homepage is now located in a sub-directory folder of the main site under "Sites." It will continue to operate as a resource specifically for technical operations of the Oregon Public Education Network. All of the staff development and instructional technology aspects of that site will now be transferred to the new Clearinghouse site.

In developing the OPEN site, our main focus was on three ideals: accessibility, high production quality, and instructional usefulness. In short, we wanted a site that was easy to use, that looked good, and that contained useful information. We hope we've succeeded! The main page is divided into four main areas, with a simple graphics-based navigation system. Just click on one of the four buttons:

Learn: Our training component, Just-In-Time Training (JITT), is designed to get educators connected to learning via the Web and to provide a helping hand along the way -- what you need, when you need it.
Teach: This area provides access to the Oregon Standards and to information on the Certificates of Initial and Advanced Mastery, as well as to specialized resources such as the Ag Ed Network.
Tools: Here you'll find a wealth if useful information, including Web-based "toolkits" and other resources for teachers, technology specialists, and administrators to assist them in their day-to-day duties.
Sites: A click here links the busy educator to relevant web sites from various state, regional, and federal education agencies and organizations.

A fifth button, labeled E-Mail, takes the user to a comments-guest book Web form; it's a quick and efficient way to send us your comments and suggestions about the Clearinghouse and its products. The site is also easily traversed via a text-based browser, like Lynx, allowing the maximum number of users to be served.

And, like any good Web site, we are and will continue to be under development. After all, who wants yet another "cob-web" site?

[Editor's Note: The OPEN site has been redesigned since this publishing.]