Accessible, Affordable Course Materials
The cost of traditional textbooks has increased in the last decade, so much so that many students no longer can afford to buy required textbooks for their courses. The University of Nebraska at Kearney is committed to student affordability by supporting faculty in adopting free or reduced-cost digital course materials in their courses.
- 289No-Cost Courses offered in 2023-2024 Academic Year
- $1,601,400Student Savings to Date
- 37Low-Cost Courses offered in 2023-2024 Academic Year
Open Nebraska (ONE) also known as Open Educational Resources (OER) "are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge."
Why OER Matters
Cost Savings
Reduces financial barriers for students and makes learning materials accessible to all.
Variety
Access to diverse learning materials
Current Content
Can be updated easily to reflect current affairs and research
Pedagogical Freedom
Allows for innovative teaching methods
Students: Finding a ONE Course
Students can search for Open Nebraska courses when they register for classes. This means the course will include no-cost or low-cost materials. You can view OER courses by going to MyBlue > UNK Class Search > scroll to bottom and select options in Open Nebraska.
Students who are taking a full course load can save up to $500 per semester by choosing ONE courses. That's a potential savings of $4,000 over the course of the academic career.
"I have access to the materials virtually anytime, anywhere, in any format. Whether that be on my phone, on my laptop, on a tablet, what have you. I can pull it up while I'm doing laundry. I can listen to it. I find that I go through the content in all the formats; I'm not just confined to sitting down and reading a chunk of textbook at one time.'
Faculty: Creating ONE Courses
Course Attributes
The University of Nebraska course attributes increase transparency so that students and their families can determine which UNK courses are using these free and reduced-cost digital course materials at the time of registration. There are two Open Nebraska course attributes:
No Cost Materials Course
These digital course materials are incorporated into Canvas at no additional cost to the student. No book purchase required.
Low Cost Materials Course
These digital course materials are incorporated into Canvas and cost students less than $40.
Tagging your ONE Course
You can tag your course with any of the attributes by following the steps below.
- Select the pencil icon next to Section Attributes.
- To add an attribute (NB - Classes that are general studies, or experiential learning will have section attributes on the course)
- Select the plus icon
- Select the Open Nebraska option
- Select Accept.
- Add the note code that corresponds to the Open Nebraska attribute selected by clicking on the pencil icon next to Notes.
- Select the plus icon and enter the note code in the Search box.
- 0960 – No Cost Materials
- 0961 – Low-Cost Materials
- Select the Note Code and click Accept
If you have questions, contact the person in your department responsible for scheduling.
Funding Opportunities
The UNK Open Nebraska Grant seeks to make education at UNK equitable and accessible by replacing expensive instructional materials with affordable content (library materials, free textbooks, online resources, etc.) and transforming the student educational experience with innovative and flexible learning opportunities.
Instructional Materials are defined as:
- Textbooks, eBooks, websites, software programs, apps, courseware packages, access codes to homework sites
Instructional Materials do not include:
- Tools and supplies cost, such as lab coat, goggles, notebook paper, art materials, thumb drives, or calculators
- Auxiliary fees such as lab fee, technology fee, or eLearning fee
- Inclusive Access or First Day programs
Now taking applications for Spring 2025 Semester.
Due date: November 27, 2024
Faculty Support
Archive Videos
Contact Us
If you have any questions about your ONE course, feel free to contact us.
Eric Tenkorang, UNK Open Nebraska Committee Lead
Rochelle Reeves, UNK OER Librarian
