Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources

Open educational resources are typically created by faculty or other content experts, and are offered free of charge for incorporation in courses or for use in other educational settings. Much is being done in development of OER materials, with the primary goal of reducing textbook costs for students. One example are “z-degrees”, wherein a student can complete an entire degree program using only free or low-cost OER materials. Many Minnesota State institutions offer z-degrees and offer information on OER freely to faculty and students.

If you teach in a career or technical program, you may be interested in the Skills Commons Repository, which provides open educational resources designed specifically for career and technical education and workforce development.

For additional OER resources and information, visit the following:

For ongoing information about OER use and opportunities within the Minnesota State system, visit and become a member of the OER Community Team site.

Contact Inver Hills Anthropology faculty member Katie Nelson for more information on OER efforts at Inver Hills Community College, or Martin Springborg for more information on OER efforts at DCTC. Also contact library staff at either Inver Hills or DCTC for assistance and more information on locating open educational resources for your courses. IHCC’s library staff maintain an OER resource page. 

2022 IHCC OER Funding

Thanks to another grant from Minnesota State’s Educational Innovations unit, we are pleased to offer stipends to faculty for projects furthering the development and adoption of open educational resources (OER) in courses. The following faculty OER projects were funding in this round:

  • Janine Dahl, Math Faculty, to author and curate OER for use in Math 2222-01: Introduction to Differential Equations
  • Laura Funke, to curate an OER for use in English 1108: Writing and Research Skills
  • Michael McIlon, to author OER for use in ECON 1105: Principles of Microeconomics and ECON 1106: Principles of Macroeconomics
  • Julie Nelson, to author an OER for use in English 1108: Writing and Research Skills
  • Sadie Pendaz-Foster, to author an OER for use in SOC 1130: Family and Society

2020 IHCC OER Funding

In the spring of 2020, faculty were invited to apply for either authorship or research and field testing funding. Check out the Timeline and Process and How to Apply .

Authorship stipends were designed to help faculty produce their own OER materials in order to align a course with the Z-Degree model. Research and field testing stipends were designed to support faculty in curating existing OER to integrate into courses – also in keeping with the Z-Degree model.

The following faculty received funding and will discuss their OER authorship and curation efforts fall semester of 2020.

  • Sara Lenertz, Math Faculty, to curate an OER for use in Math 1101- Math for Liberal Arts
  • Nicholas Nownes, English Faculty, to curate an OER for use in English 1130: Writing and Research for the Professions
  • Brad Perkl, Anthropology Faculty, to author and curate an OER for use in Anth 1120-Introduction to Archaeology and Anth 1130/Anth 1131-Introduction to Biological Anthropology/Lab
  • Christine Petrich, Physical Education and Health Faculty, to curate an OER for use in HLTH 1154: Mindfulness, Meditation and Movement