ZUM Unterrichten, an open platform for free teaching materials in German

Description: ZUM Unterrichten is an open, non-commercial platform providing teaching materials and lesson ideas. It functions as a wiki where materials are contributed and shared under an open license (Creative Commons CC BY-SA), allowing them to be freely copied, used, and adapted. It provides a structured, accessible home for educational content across various subjects, including languages, math, sciences, and social studies. Users can browse existing materials or contribute their own content to the ever-growing repository. ZUM Unterrichten’s interface is in German, but it provides resources in other languages too. It is a project by Unterrichtsmedien im Internet e.V., a non-profit association of teachers and others interested in open educational resources.

Evaluation: ZUM Unterrichten is an excellent resource for educators, due to its focus on high-quality, openly licensed (OER) materials. Hence, it is a community-driven alternative to commercial education platforms. Its primary benefit is that all content was created by educators, and it is free and licensed to be freely modified and distributed. Its main drawback is that, as a community-driven wiki, the quality and completeness of materials can vary, although ZUM has established quality assurance guidelines.

Cost: Free.

Respect for privacy Privacy evaluations indicate how a tool handles personal data collection, storage, and sharing, including GDPR compliance and security measures, among others. The ICT-REV team provides them for informational purposes, reflecting our best understanding at the time of review, but assumes no legal responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of these evaluations and encourages users to conduct their own assessments: Medium. ZUM Unterrichten does not require login for use, but users can create an account to access more features. In doing so they provide personal data like names, emails, and IP addresses. ZUM clearly outlines how this data is processed in accordance with the GDPR. ZUM Unterrichen shares data with Matomo, an on-premise solution that anonymizes IP addresses and keeps data in-house for analytical purposes. It also integrates services from third-party providers like Google (AdSense, Fonts, YouTube, Maps), Twitter, and PayPal. It also displays advertising on its website. ZUM Unterrichten acknowledges users' rights to object to the processing of their data, together with their modification and erasure. It complies with the GDPR. See more here (in German).

Type Of Interaction: Individual work,

Skills: Writing, Vocabulary, Grammar,

Content: Website/other users supply,

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