Open Education

The NC State University Libraries is committed to fostering change in the current textbook publishing environment. Librarians can partner with faculty members on licensing resources, using digital repositories, and creating and publishing their own open educational resources.

About Open Educational Resources

What are Open Educational Resources?
Open Educational Resources (OERs) are educational materials that you can legally and freely copy, use, adapt, and re-share. OERs come in a range of forms, from traditional peer-reviewed textbooks to open educational modules. OERs can help alleviate the burden of textbook costs for students and provide faculty with content that can be customized for their course.
Why should I consider Open Educational Resources?
Runaway textbook costs on college campuses have become a major impediment to student success.
- Textbook costs have outpaced inflation by 300% over the last 30 years.
- Students spend an average of $1,200 per year on textbooks.
- 7 out of 10 students have forgone purchasing college textbooks because of cost, according to a recent PIRG survey on 13 college campuses.
One size does not fit all when it comes to textbooks. Open resources can be customized to fit your teaching needs.
Learn more about why you should utilize OERs
Where can I find Open Educational Resources?

Librarians can help you find open textbooks or other open content to use in your courses. Start finding OERS for your course.

Funding Sources

NC State awards grants to faculty to adopt, adapt, or create free or low-cost alternatives to expensive textbooks.

All instructors are eligible to apply for Alt-Textbook Grants.

Open Pedagogy

Open pedagogy is a high-impact practice that empowers students by providing them an opportunity to engage in information creation through the use of renewable assignments

Learn more about open pedagogy at NC State

Open Pedagogy Incubator

The Open Pedagogy Incubator is a semester-long program designed to incentivize faculty to go beyond the first step in open education - adopting open course materials - to implement multiple open-enabled practices in their courses. Modeled on our successful Alt-Textbook program and the 2019 pilot of our OPEN Incubator, the Open Pedagogy Incubator brings together a cohort of faculty instructors to develop competencies in open pedagogy through a series of hands-on workshops, curated readings, and cohort discussions.

Learn more about the Open Pedagogy Incubator