This guide supports faculty teaching Computer Science, Information Technology, and Software Engineering by curating high‑quality Open Access (OA) and Open Educational Resource (OER) materials for course design, assignments, labs, and curriculum development.
How to Use This Guide
- Browse by section to find open textbooks, journals, lab materials, and security frameworks aligned with your courses.
- Vet resources using the quality notes provided—peer‑review status, licensing, and institutional reputation matter.
- Integrate OER into syllabi, readings, and assignments to reduce costs and improve accessibility for students.
- Cite and attribute properly—link to the APA Formatting & Citation Guide for standards.
- Share discoveries with colleagues and Ask the Librarian for additional support or custom searches.
1. Open Textbooks for CS/IT
Peer‑reviewed, freely accessible textbooks covering programming, data structures, algorithms, networking, databases, and software engineering.
- OpenStax – Peer‑reviewed undergraduate textbooks; limited CS titles but strong foundational math.
- LibreTexts – Interactive, remixable textbooks; strong Computer Science and Engineering collections.
- BCcampus Open Textbooks – Faculty‑reviewed texts including IT and business technology.
- Open Textbook Library – Searchable catalog with faculty reviews; filter by subject (Computer Science, Information Systems).
- Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) – Academic books across disciplines; includes software engineering and IT management titles.
- IntechOpen Books – Publisher platform with engineering and technology books; verify title‑level quality.
- Free Computer Books – Directory of CS/IT books, tutorials, and lecture notes; quality varies by source.
Teaching Tip: Preview books for alignment with learning outcomes. Supplement with curated articles from journals below.
2. OA Journals & Research Articles
High‑quality peer‑reviewed journals and preprint repositories to stay current and assign readings on emerging topics.
- IEEE Access – Peer‑reviewed OA journal covering engineering, computing, and technology. Gold standard for CS/IT.
- Journal of Open Source Software (JOSS) – Peer‑reviewed research software; excellent for software engineering courses.
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – Comprehensive index of peer‑reviewed OA journals; search “Computer Science” or “Information Technology.”
- MDPI Open Access Journals – Large portfolio; includes Electronics, Sensors, Applied Sciences. Recommend title‑level evaluation.
- SpringerOpen – OA journals across STEM; reputable publisher with rigorous peer review.
- arXiv – Preprints in CS, math, physics. Caution: Not peer‑reviewed; use to track cutting‑edge research, but verify with peer‑reviewed versions.
- CiteSeerX – Search engine for computing and information science literature; indexes preprints and published papers.
- OSF Preprints – Community preprint servers. Caution: Teach students to appraise quality.
Quality Note: Always check peer‑review status. Use DOAJ to verify journal legitimacy and avoid predatory publishers.
3. Courses, Lab Materials & OER Platforms
Full courses, video lectures, lab exercises, and interactive learning modules you can adapt or link directly in your syllabus.
- MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) – Openly‑licensed course materials including syllabi, lectures, assignments, and exams. Strong in algorithms, data structures, AI, and software engineering.
- Saylor Academy – Free college‑level courses with openly‑licensed textbooks; includes Computer Science and IT programs.
- SkillsCommons – Workforce and technical OER including IT, cybersecurity, and software development labs.
- MERLOT – Curated teaching/learning materials with peer reviews; filter by discipline and material type (simulation, tutorial, lab).
- OpenLearn (The Open University) – Free courses including computing, cybersecurity, and digital skills. Excellent for micro‑credentials and upskilling modules.
- OER Commons – Open textbooks and full courses across disciplines; strong search and curation tools.
Teaching Tip: Map specific MIT OCW modules to your course topics. Assign video lectures as flipped‑classroom prep and use problem sets for practice.
4. Secure Coding & Security Frameworks
Authoritative standards and knowledge bases for teaching cybersecurity, secure software development, and risk management.
- OWASP Top 10 Web Application Security Risks – Essential reference for secure coding modules; updated periodically.
- NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0 – Risk management framework; excellent for IT governance and policy courses.
- MITRE ATT&CK – Knowledge base of adversary tactics and techniques; ideal for threat modeling, incident response, and blue team teaching.
- SANS Institute White Papers – Many freely accessible; cover penetration testing, forensics, and security operations.
Teaching Tip: Assign OWASP Top 10 as required reading in secure coding courses. Use MITRE ATT&CK for case‑based labs on threat detection.
5. Data, Repositories & Software
Open datasets, code repositories, and research outputs for assignments, capstone projects, and hands‑on labs.
- Zenodo – CERN/OpenAIRE repository for datasets, software, and publications with DOI minting. Verify quality at item level.
- Figshare – Research outputs and datasets; good for STEM data.
- GitHub – World’s largest open‑source code repository; use for teaching version control, collaboration, and code review.
- Kaggle Datasets – Machine learning and data science datasets; excellent for AI/ML courses.
- Data.gov (US) and Government of Jamaica Open Data Portal – Public datasets for projects with real‑world relevance.
Teaching Tip: Assign GitHub‑based group projects to teach Git workflows. Use Kaggle datasets for hands‑on data analysis and modeling labs.
6. Designing Assignments with OA/OER
Practical strategies for integrating open resources into course design and assessments.
- Replace proprietary texts with OA textbooks from OpenStax, LibreTexts, or Open Textbook Library.
- Curate reading lists using peer‑reviewed OA journals (IEEE Access, JOSS) and link via DOAJ.
- Assign real‑world problems using open datasets (Zenodo, Kaggle, Data.gov.jm).
- Incorporate standards (OWASP, NIST, MITRE) into labs and case studies.
- Teach source evaluation using the Research Skills Guide and APA Formatting & Citation Guide.
- Share OER you create with colleagues and contribute to the growing ecosystem of open teaching materials.
Need help finding resources or designing OA‑based assignments? Ask the Librarian for personalized support.
See Also
- CS/IT Student Library Guide – Recommend this to your students for self‑directed learning.
- Research Skills Guide – Teach students how to discover, evaluate, and cite sources.
- APA Formatting & Citation Guide – Citation standards for assignments and capstone projects.
- Technology Management & IT Careers Guide – Career context for students entering IT roles.
- Ask the Librarian – Get help with custom searches, collection development, and OER adoption.