Open Education Resources

Northeast Iowa Community College is committed to improving students' education through the distribution and support of Open Education Resources (OERs). These are "teaching and learning materials that are freely available online for everyone to use" (California Open Education Resource Council, 2014) and include syllabi, quizzes, lecture materials, and textbooks.

Many NICC programs are developed and supported with grant funding - and many government and foundation grants are now requiring these materials to be licensed and accessible for open access use. To this end NICC is providing access to OERs (grant-funded and otherwise) through this page. Some materials are hosted, per grant requirements, in other depositories and links are provided here. Other materials are found only on this page.

Please pay attention to the licensing requirements on each OER as requirements for use may vary.

Externally Hosted Resources

Topic/SubjectGrant Funding SourceExternal Host SiteProject Title
NICC Open Education Resources (Externally Hosted)
Healthcare Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant Skills Commons Bridges2HealthCare (B2HC)
Manufacturing Department of Labor TAACCCT grant Skills Commons Iowa - Advanced Manufacturing (I-AM)

Internally Hosted Resources

NICC Open Education Resources (Internally Hosted)
Topic/SubjectGrant Funding SourceDocument NameKeywords
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Introduction to Renewable Energy Unit Plan Renewable energy; heat transfer; electricity 
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Basic Renewable Energy: Introduction to Common Terminology Renewable energy; solar; wind; geothermal; bioenergy; terminology
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Fundamentals of Energy: Heat Transfer and Efficiency Renewable energy; efficiency and conservation; potential energy; kinetic energy; thermodynamics; latent heat; sensible heat; conduction; convection; radiation
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Basic Electricity: Basic Electrical Concepts Renewable energy; electricity; atom structure; circuits; conversions; currents; voltage 
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Introduction to Geothermal Unit Plan Renewable energy; geothermal systems; heat pump cycle 
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Geothermal Systems: Open Loop and Closed Loop Heat Exchanges   Renewable energy; geothermal systems; loop configurations; series piping; parallel piping; ground temperature zones; thermal conductivity; open loops; closed loops
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Geothermal Systems: The Refrigeration and Heat Pump Cycle  Renewable energy; geothermal systems; heat pumps; sensible heat; latent heat; basic refrigeration cycle; basic refrigeration components; absorbing heat; releasing heat; reversing valve; heating mode; cooling mode
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Introduction to Solar Photovoltaics Unit Plan   Renewable energy; solar energy; radiation; irradiance; electrical grid; solar cells; inverters; racking systems 
Renewable Energy  Iowa Energy Center  Solar Photovoltaics: Radiation   Renewable energy; solar energy; photovoltaics; solar radiation; solar irradiance; insolation; solar declination; solar array; magnetic declination; peak sun hours; solar window;  
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Solar Photovoltaics: Grids  Renewable energy; solar energy; photovoltaics; electrical grids; inverter; balance of system; days of autonomy 
Renewable Energy  Iowa Energy Center  Solar Photovoltaics: Components - Cells, Modules, and Arrays  Renewable energy; solar energy; photovoltaics; solar cells; semiconductor; P-N Junction; voltage; solar array  
Renewable Energy  Iowa Energy Center Solar Photovoltaics: Components - Inverters  Renewable energy; solar energy; photovoltaics; inverters; DC sine waves; AC sine waves  
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Introduction to Solar Thermal Unit Plan Renewable energy; solar energy; solar thermal; insolation; active solar; passive solar 
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Solar Thermal Basics Renewable energy; solar energy; solar thermal; insolation; sun paths; panel tilt; passive solar; active solar 
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Solar Thermal: Collectors, Operation, and Layout  Renewable energy; solar energy; solar thermal; drain back systems; close loop pressurized systems; flat plate collector; evacuated tube collector; concentrating collector; 
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Solar Thermal: Passive Solar   Renewable energy; solar energy; solar thermal; passive solar; seasonal sun paths; sun altitudes; passive solar design; thermal mass; heat distribution; direct gain; indirect gain; thermosiphons; 
Renewable Energy  Iowa Energy Center Introduction to Wind Unit Plan Renewable energy; wind energy; residential wind; commercial wind; 
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Wind Energy: Residential Renewable energy; wind energy; residential wind; wind speed; horizontal axis wind turbine; vertical axis wind turbine; yaw and furl; turbines  
Renewable Energy Iowa Energy Center Wind Energy: Commercial Renewable energy; wind energy; commercial wind; turbines; wind speed; electricity generation; wind quality