This page lists open educational resources (OER) that are aligned to courses provided across Iowa’s colleges and universities. For this first iteration, the list focuses on common transfer and concurrent (dual) enrollment courses. The curated list was developed by OER experts at the Iowa Open Education Action Team based on currently adopted materials in Iowa and aligned materials identified by our peers in other states. For more information, review our frequently asked questions below. 

Suggest new materials: Have you adopted an open textbook that you recommend but isn’t on this list? Submit a recommendation

Something wrong? Report a broken link or incorrect information here: Report a problem

List Last Reviewed: December 16, 2024

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are Open Educational Resources (OER)?

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning resources licensed for free use, adapting, and repurposing. OERs can be full courses, software, or any other tool, material, or technique that supports access to knowledge.

Open Educational Resources are broadly considered to meet the “5Rs Framework,” meaning that users must give attribution to the source and then are free to:

• Retain: Content can be saved & copied;
• Reuse: Content can be reused in its unaltered form;
• Revise: Content can be adapted, adjusted, modified or altered; 
• Remix: The original or revised content can be combined with other content to create something new;
• Redistribute: Copies of the content can be shared with others in its original, revised, or remixed form.

Where else can I find OER?

Other places to locate OER include, but are not limited to, the Open Textbook Library, OER Commons, Libretexts Commons, and the Pressbooks Directory.

Some of the materials highlighted on this list have been reviewed based on the OER alignment list from the OER Initiative/Academic Senate for California Community Colleges.

What courses are included in this list, and why?

Courses in this list include courses commonly transferred among Iowa academic institutions, as well as courses commonly taken at Iowa academic institutions by high school students for college credit (Concurrent Enrollment). These courses were included because the adoption of OER will have most significant impact in these lower-level courses that are often high enrollment. In addition, ample high-quality OER is often available for these courses.

Does this list contain all the OER available for each course?

No. This list is intended as a starting point, and includes vetted and adopted OER for selected courses. It is not intended to be a comprehensive list.

How did you align and review these materials?

Members of the Course Alignment Working Group of the Iowa OER Action Team created this list by reviewing existing lists of OER vetted by faculty and adopted in Iowa or elsewhere. These sources included OER Initiative/Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, Open Oregon, and Iowa OER, among others.

How often will this list be updated?

The courses with materials provided in this list currently will be reviewed and updated every two years. New materials may be added or old materials may be retired from the list sooner if it is recommended by users on our Submit a Recommendation form.

Will additional courses be added to this list? 

Additional courses will be added to this list in the future, based on the needs and interests of instructors. Courses with high OER adoption rates in Iowa will be prioritized for addition first.

How can I suggest new materials?

Use the Submit a Recommendation form.

My course is not included. How can I find OER aligned to my needs?

Since this list is not intended to be comprehensive, searching elsewhere may be necessary. We recommend checking with your institution’s librarians first–often they can assist instructors with identifying free/affordable course materials, and some maintain online guides with lists and tools to search. See the list above for suggestions of Where else can I find OER? New OER is being published all the time, so checking regularly is a good idea.

Are the listed materials accessible?

Evaluating accessibility was outside the scope of this listing project. However, all OER include permissions to modify the materials, so instructors or learners can change the format, translate into other languages, etc. with no additional permissions or cost. Learn more about OER accessibility & inclusion: Module 6: Accessibility and inclusion