OpenStax vs TU Delft OpenCourseWare

OpenStax is a nonprofit education initiative of Rice University that publishes free, openly licensed textbooks and related materials for introductory courses. Subject matter experts write the textbooks, which are peer-reviewed for accuracy and updated regularly. Books can be read online on the web, Android or iOS, or downloaded as free PDFs; low-cost print editions are also offered. Most titles are accessible without an account, although a small number require sign-in. Students can highlight, take notes and create study guides, with a free student account required for some features. Educators with a free account can access test banks, PowerPoint slides, solutions manuals and customization tools. OpenStax Assignable lets instructors assign readings, assessments and supporting materials through an LMS, with automatic grading and gradebook synchronization. It supports LTI 1.3 and Blackboard, Canvas, D2L Brightspace and Moodle. Textbooks cost nothing. Assignable starts at $15, paid once, billed per student per semester; instructors use it free, and a two-week trial begins on the first day of access. Institutional pricing is by contact.

TU Delft OpenCourseWare publishes free university-level learning materials arranged as courses. Anyone can view the materials online without registering or meeting academic prerequisites. Course resources vary and may include planning materials, evaluation tools, and subject content. One example, Modern Distributed Systems, addresses cloud, edge, and big-data systems through quizzes, design exercises, experiments, open questions, and a final project. The homepage says resources can be downloaded, and materials may be copied, distributed, translated, and modified under their reuse terms. Most course materials use a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 license: users must give attribution, reuse them noncommercially, and apply the same terms to adaptations. Videos play through TU Delft’s Collegerama site using MediaSite Viewer. OCW does not provide university credit, degrees, certificates, or access to TU Delft faculty. Some content may be missing because of intellectual-property restrictions, and instructors may withhold assignment or exam solutions. Materials are listed for web, macOS, and Windows.