MyMaterials

Ebooks are a digital form of a textbook. Inclusive Access materials usually contain interactive content and multimedia in addition to the eBook. Your instructor will decide which additional options you will have for their course.

All materials will be made available through Canvas. An email will be sent to your college email address with access instructions.

Your instructor will decide when to open course materials to the class. Most typically open access anywhere from one week prior to the first day of class.

Students will have to follow the late enrollment process. Once permission is granted, you will receive access to the course materials upon registration. Please speak with your instructor about your opt-out option. 

Additional resource materials, including physical books, may be available for purchase in the Waubonsee Community College bookstores.

Yes. Payment for Inclusive Access materials is due with your tuition charges; it is your responsibility to make payments by your scheduled payment due date. 

If you choose to opt-out, the charges will be reversed. If you made partial or full payment toward your Inclusive Access charge(s), you will receive a refund within 10 business days from when the Inclusive Access charge(s) are reversed on your student account. If you have not paid the Inclusive Access fees at the time of opting out, the charges will be reversed from your student account, however, you will not get a refund.

The opt-out deadline for all Inclusive Access courses is the refund date of the course. Registration, Refund & Withdrawal Dates

When you opt-out, access to all online content is disconnected and the charge(s) will be credited to your student account. You are then responsible for obtaining the materials for your class and will no longer be eligible for discounted rates available to the Inclusive Access students.

An email will be sent to your college email address with instructions to access or opt-out of Inclusive Access.

Yes, we have various payment plan options available. The earlier you register, the smaller your payments. Get more information on payment plans.

Inclusive Access charges are covered by federal financial aid including Pell Grant and Direct Loans if your aid from these programs is greater than your tuition and fees. The State of Illinois MAP Grant does not cover book charges. If your only aid is from scholarships, one or more of the scholarships would have to allow for book charges. You can view your student account from the Student tab in mywcc.

OER stands for Open Educational Resources.  OER are “educational materials—everything from a single lesson plan to an entire textbook—that save students and teachers money because they are free to use, customize, and share” (OER Commons).

Open textbooks are one specific type of OER.

No!  They are free!

OER are available immediately.  Your professor will provide you with the links you need to access the content.

The most obvious reason is that it saves you money!  By definition, OER are free, so there’s no additional cost for you to purchase textbooks or other materials.

There’s plenty of research showing that students in classes using OER perform at least as well as students using regular textbooks.  In fact, students in OER classes tend to receive higher grades on average, and drop/fail/withdraw at a lower rate, than students in the same classes using regular textbooks.  For more information, check out The Impact of Open Educational Resources on Various Student Success Metrics.

Not at all!  There are many reputable providers of Open Educational Resources, and many are even peer-reviewed to ensure they meet a high standard of quality.  There is also substantial research indicating that students and faculty perceive OER to be of at least the same quality as commercially published textbooks, if not better!  For more information, see Student and Faculty Perceptions of OpenStax in High Enrollment Courses.

Just like commercially published textbooks, open textbooks are written by experts in their various fields, such as professors, doctors, economists, accountants, psychologists, lawyers, etc.  However, unlike commercially published textbooks, these authors are not compensated based on sales.  Instead, the creation of open textbooks is often funded by grants from organizations like state and federal governments, philanthropic organizations, professional societies, and colleges and universities.

Open textbooks are usually available digitally, either as an eBook or just online text.  However, not all eBooks are open.

Many times, you can!  Several OER publishers make their materials available to purchase in print–and these print copies are (almost always) cheaper than a comparable commercial textbook would be.

No!  As long as you’ve got a computer with an internet connection, you should be able to access almost all OER.