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Find Open and Affordable Course Materials

Finding the best open educational resources (OER) may require you to look in a few different places, since there isn’t a single source for all of them. Fortunately, we’re here to help, and this guide is the perfect place to start.

How Do I Find Open Textbooks/Books? 

photo of man using computer

Here are the top sources we recommend if you are just getting started: 

  • Open Textbook Library: books and reviews by other educators  
  • Open Stax: peer-reviewed open textbooks, plus supplemental materials like slide decks and other teaching resources  
  • Pressbooks Directory: open textbooks published by faculty at mostly US higher education institutions  

How Do I Find Open Syllabi? 

Check out these open syllabi for links to open course materials you can use: 

What if I Can’t Find What I Need? 

Feel free to reach out if you need help. If you want to dig deeper on your own, check out the resources below. These sites offer collections of books, assignments, videos, and other learning materials that can be used freely: 

Visit our Open Course Materials Guide for a comprehensive list of all the open resources we’ve found. We also offer an Affordable Course Materials Guide with resources that are not open but still zero-cost to your students. 

Workshop with $200 Stipend

Our Get Started Using Open Textbooks workshop will help you to start exploring open textbooks available for your courses. After you complete the workshop, you will be eligible to write a review of an open textbook and receive a $200 stipend. 

Prefer Learning from a Book?

We recommend Best Practices in Designing Courses with Open Educational Resources, a practical guide for finding and teaching with OER. You can read the ebook or borrow our print copy.

What’s the Difference Between Free Course Materials and Open Educational Resources?

This website focuses on open educational resources, but OER are only one way to give students access to textbooks for free. Many course materials are also freely available to your students through JMU or statewide licenses or subscriptions. These often do not have an open license, but they are free to you and your students.

Even if you don’t use open textbooks, you can make course materials more affordable by:

Benefits of Open and Affordable Course Content

With OER, students can:

  • Spend less money on course materials
  • Access course content from day one until well after the course is over
  • Enjoy more dynamic learning experiences and materials when faculty choose to tailor and update their OER course content 

Faculty can:

  • Ensure equitable access to course materials for all learners
  • Customize content to meet the needs of the context and curriculum
  • Enhance learning and improve student success 

Get Energized

More JMU faculty are using OER each year! Check out these success stories of other JMU Faculty Using OER.

Get Funding

Grants and stipends are available to compensate you for the time involved in researching and adopting new materials. Thanks for taking the time to explore open and affordable materials for your courses!

Get Help

If you have questions or can’t find what you’re looking for, contact Liz Thompson, our Open Education Librarian. 

Learn More

Visit our Open and Affordable Guide to learn about licensing, copyright, and more. Or check out some other easy steps you can take to lower textbook costs for students.

The benefits of OER on this page were adapted from VIVA’s Understanding Open and Affordable Course Content page, which is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.