Open Educational Resources and Communication Studies

This collection was curated by an ASCCC OERI discipline lead. A comprehensive list of current discipline leads is available.

Archived Communication Studies Webinars

Public Speaking (C-ID COMM 110)

Textbooks

  • COMM 1: Introduction to Public Speaking (2023) – Fresno City College (CC BY-NC-SA)

    Theories and techniques of public speaking from the perspective of the speaker and the audience. Emphasis on research, logical organization, composition and effective delivery of informative and persuasive speeches. Practice in clearly stating and developing ideas.

  • Exploring Public Speaking (Barton and Tucker) in Galileo

    Exploring Public Speaking (Barton and Tucker) in LibreTexts (CC BY-NC-SA)
    Exploring Public Speaking is now on its 4th edition. The text addresses all the subjects that traditional publishers’ books would address with some additional topics that might be excluded from most texts including learning theory, plagiarism, speaking online, speaking to diverse audiences, and humor in public speaking. The third and fourth editions also include case study examples and outline samples. The text includes a set of test banks which are not available to the public. For access to these resources, please contact Dr. Barbara Tucker.

  • Fundamentals of Public Speaking (Stokes-Rice, Leonard, and Rome) (Stokes-Rice, Leonard, and Rome, College of the Canyons)

    (CC BY 4.0) Fundamentals of Public Speaking is an OER published by the College of the Canyons for their Comm 105 course. The text begins with the fundamentals, ethics and communication apprehension before walking students through the process of developing, researching, and delivering speeches. In addition to covering informative and persuasive speeches it also includes a chapter on special occasion speeches.

  • Introduction to Public Communication

    (CC BY-SA 4.0) Introduction to Public Communication is an open textbook created specifically for Indiana State University’s COMM 101 course. A guiding team of communication instructors compiled content from other open sources and wrote original content to complete the text. In addition to more traditional public speaking content this text also includes chapters on interpersonal, professional, and small group communication as well as global engagement and culture.

  • Stand Up, Speak Out: The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking (University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing)

    Stand up, Speak out – The Practice and Ethics of Public Speaking in LibreTexts  (CC BY-NC-SA)
    Stand Up, Speak Out focuses on helping students become more seasoned and polished public speakers, and emphasizes ethics in communication. The text covers all of the major aspects of public speaking from research through organization and presentation skills with specific chapters on informative, persuasive, and entertaining speeches. The book has a 4.5/5 star rating from more than 50 reviews.

  • The Public Speaking Project in LibreTexts

    (CC BY-NC-ND) Note: “ND” means no derivatives – editing the text is not permitted.
    The Public Speaking Project includes everything needed to teach public speaking starting with introductory chapters covering the origins and ethics of the subject. It includes material to help students through research, reasoning, organization, composition, presentation, and evaluation of various types of speeches including informative, persuasive, special occasion, and group speeches. The text includes additional instructor resources including test questions, chapter outlines, and video resources.

  • Using Your Speech Power! Instructional Materials for Communication Teachers and Students

    (CC BY-SA 4.0) This material was created by Steven Ginley at Morton College. He argues “the purpose of an introduction to public speaking course should be to provide a human communication overview. It should use independent study, textbook readings and exercises, group work, class discussions, library research, oral presentations and lectures to prepare students for successful lives by improving their oral and written communication skills. It should stress personal responsibility, ethics and the ability to understand and follow written and oral directions.” The all-inclusive site includes a textbook, workbook, presentations, practice quizzes and tests, motivational aids, and more.

Courses

  • Rhetoric and Speech in the Digital Age by Newsom & Montenegro (Newsom & Montenegro) – Canvas Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA) 
  • In this public speaking OER, we will explore the impact of public communication on our world. We will learn both how to create public messages that can help shape the world around us and learn how to read the various public messages that surround us each day. We will explore how each of you can use your own voices and communication abilities to reach out to a variety of audiences, market yourself and your ideas to potential employers and colleagues, interact with your friends and relatives, and voice your concerns and potentially change the wrongs you perceive in the world.
  • Principles of Public Speaking (Lumen Learning) (Click the words “Licenses and Attributions” at the bottom of each page for copyright and licensing information specific to the material on that page.) Principles of Public Speaking covers all of the basics of public speaking in bite-sized modules which can be adapted in part or whole. The modules include objectives, videos, assignments, and more. The courseware includes resources copyrighted and openly licensed by multiple individuals and organizations.

Survey of Human Communication (C-ID COMM 115)

Textbooks

  • A Primer on Communication Studies (LardBucket) 

    (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) A Primer on Communication Studies is a comprehensive textbook that covers all of the basics of communication including perception, verbal and nonverbal communication, listening, and culture. It also has chapters on public speaking including preparing and delivering speeches. Finally, it covers various types of communication including small group, interpersonal, and cultural communication.

  • Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies

    Communication in the Real World – An Introduction to Communication Studies in LibreTexts (CC BY-NC-SA)
    Communication in the Real World overviews the foundations of the field while incorporating the latest research and cutting-edge applications of these basics. Each chapter includes timely, concrete, and real-life examples of communication concepts in action. A key feature of this book is the integration of content regarding diversity and organizational communication in each chapter through examples and/or discrete sub-sections. Also integrated into the content are examples that are inclusive in terms of race, gender, sexuality, ability, age, marital status, religion, and other diverse identity characteristics. The book has a 4.5/5 star rating from more than 35 reviews.

  • Introduction to Communication (Green, Knudsen, Lease-Gubrud)

    Introduction to Communication (Green, et al) in LibreTexts (CC BY-NC) 
    Introduction to Communication is an introductory communication studies text comprised of several individual modules covering perception, diversity, language, listening, interpersonal, small group, and public speaking. The modules can be used as a whole or broken up into smaller portions covering individual topics.

  • Introduction to Communication (Paynton and Hahn) in LibreTexts (CC BY-SA)

    This textbook is targeted for Introduction to Human Communication courses that introduce students to the study of Communication. The underlying organization addresses the importance of students to be able to answer the question, “What is Communication Study?” in a way that captures the field of Communication appropriately, as well as an important discipline across colleges and universities.

  • Message Processing: The Science of Creating Understanding (Gasiorek, 2018) 

    (CC BY 4.0) According to the author Message Processing “provides an upper-level undergraduate introduction and explanation of the social and cognitive processes involved in human communication, focusing on how people create understanding.”

  • Process of Communication (Rice, 2020) 

    (CC BY 4.0) Process of Communication is an OER published by the College of the Canyons for their Comm 100 course. The text provides a comprehensive look at the field including foundations and history. It has chapters covering the major components of communication including perception, verbal, nonverbal, listening, etc. before turning to the distinct types of communication.

  • The Evolution of Human Communication: From Theory to Practice (Pierce) 

    (CC0) This book is private and accessible only to registered users. If you have an account you can sign in here. The Evolution of Human Communication is a more specialized text with a focus on theory. The book begins with an introduction to the field and then provides one chapter on each of the following topics: interpersonal, relationships, gender, media, intercultural, and rhetoric.

Courses

  • COMM001: Principles of Human Communication (Saylor) (CC BY 3.0)
    This course will introduce you to communication principles, common communication practices, and a selection of theories to better understand the communication transactions that you experience in your daily life. The principles and practices that you study in this course will provide the foundation for further study in communications. The course has ancillaries and supplemental readings. Excluding course final exams, content authored for Saylor Academy’s Principles of Human Communication is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unsupported license. A complete list of terms of use is available.

Argumentation or Argumentation & Debate (C-ID COMM 120)

Textbooks

Courses

  • PHIL 2020 – Principles of Logic and Argumentation (Valdosta State University) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
    This course was developed as part of an Affordable Learning Georgia Textbook Transformation Grant awarded to two faculty members at Valdosta State University. The course includes units on critical thinking, arguments, fallacies, symbolic logic, syllogisms, research, and law. It also includes an instructor’s guide and lesson planning.

Interpersonal Communication (C-ID COMM 130)

Textbooks

Courses

  • CMST 210 – Interpersonal Communication (Open Course Library) (CC BY 3.0)
    This course introduces you to the conceptual issues and practical implications of interpersonal communication. The course is designed to provide a holistic and self-contained, although not comprehensive, introduction to the study and practice of communication within interpersonal encounters. In addition, this course focuses specifically on understanding and improving how we communicate in personal relationships including familial, friendship, work, and romantic contexts. The guiding instructional philosophy of the course is that learning entails active engagement with and feedback about the targeted skill.

Small Group Communication (C-ID COMM 140)

Textbooks

Courses

  • CMST 230 – Small Group Communication (Open Course Library) (CC BY 3.0)
    This course is designed to familiarize you with the major theory and research surrounding the study of small group communication and provide an opportunity to analyze and develop solutions to a community problem while working in a small group.
  • Working in Diverse Teams (OpenLearn) (CC BY-NC-SA) An OpenLearn course exploring diversity within teams and team roles with a focus on the workplace and employer/employee dynamics. Includes a section on virtual teams.

Intercultural Communication (C-ID COMM 150)

Textbooks

Courses

  • COMM311: Intercultural Communication (Saylor) (CC BY 3.0)
    This course is designed to improve communication in cross-cultural situations with a focus on barriers to successful communication that involve cultural differences. Though some of this course addresses a Western/U.S. perspective, much of the course focuses on characteristics of specific cultures and how generally one culture may adapt to another, regardless of which cultures they may be.
  • Communicating Across Cultures (MIT Open Courseware) (CC BY-NC-SA)
    “Communicating Across Cultures” is designed to help you meet the challenges of living in a world in which, increasingly, you will be asked to interact with people who may not be like you in fundamental ways. Its primary goals are to help you become more sensitive to intercultural communication differences and to provide you with the knowledge and skills that will help you interact successfully with people from cultures other than your own.

Forensics (Speech & Debate) (C-ID COMM 160 B)

Textbooks

Courses

  • Critical Thinking 1 How to Reason Logically (Dowden, California State University Sacramento) (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) Series of online modules covering topics in argument and logic by Bradley Dowden, California State University Sacramento.
  • 5.1a Argument Structures (University of Sydney) (CC not readily available) This course focuses on (1) Using critical thinking and argumentation in university contexts to improve academic results (2) Understanding the importance and function of critical thinking in academic culture (3) Using a variety of thinking tools to improve critical thinking (4) Identifying types of argument, and bias within arguments, in order to better evaluate the strength of arguments (5) Using evidence to support claims in arguments (6) Applying critical thinking and argumentation to real world problems and issues.

Oral Interpretation of Literature (C-ID COMM 170)

Textbooks

    No resources identified.

Courses

  • TA121 – Oral Interpretation of Literature OER (Ivey) (CC BY 4.0) This course by Tinamarie Ivey was designed for Linn-Benton Community College students. Course Description: Students will be able to foster an appreciation of literature and develop creative skills in public speaking and performance. Students will analyze various literary forms (poetry, novels, plays, letters, diaries, etc.) as texts for oral presentation. Students will explore oral traditions and other nonliterary sources and events as oral presentation material. Class exercises introduce vocal, physical and other speaking techniques to effectively communicate a point of view.
  • Topics in Performance Studies: Comedy Across Media (MIT Open CourseWare) (CC BY-NC-SA) This multidisciplinary lecture/workshop engages students in a variety of approaches to the study and practice of performance as an area of aesthetic and social interaction. Special attention is paid to the use of diverse media in performance. Interdisciplinary approaches to study encourage students to seek out material histories of performance and practice.
  • Literary Interpretation: Interpreting Poetry (MIT Open CourseWare) (CC BY-NC-SA) This seminar offers a course of readings in lyric poetry. It aims to enhance the student’s capacity to understand the nature of poetic language and the enjoyment of poetic texts by treating poems as messages to be deciphered. The seminar will briefly touch upon the history of theories of figurative language since Aristotle and it will attend to the development of those theories during the last thirty years, noting the manner in which they tended to consider figures of speech distinct from normative or literal expression, and it will devote particular attention to the rise of theories that quarrel with this distinction. The seminar also aims to communicate a rough sense of the history of English-speaking poetry since the early modern period. Some attention will be paid as well to the use of metaphor in science.
  • Theater and Cultural Diversity in the U.S. (MIT Open CourseWare) (CC BY-NC-SA) This course explores contemporary American theatrical expression as it may be organized around issues of gender and cultural identity. This exploration will include the analysis of performances, scripts, and video documentation, as well as the invention of original documents of theatrical expression. Class lectures and discussions will analyze samples of Native American, Chicano, African American, and Asian American theater, taking into consideration the historical and political context for the creation of these works. Performance exercises will help students identify theatrical forms and techniques used by these theaters, and how these techniques contribute to the overall goals of specific theatrical expressions.
  • Oral Interpretation of Literature (Martinez, 2022) (CC BY-NC-SA) An OER intended for a college course on the oral performance of literary texts

Introduction to Communication Studies or Introduction to Communication Theory (C-ID COMM 180)

Textbooks

  • Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies

    Communication in the Real World – An Introduction to Communication Studies in LibreTexts (CC BY-NC-SA)
    Communication in the Real World overviews the foundations of the field while incorporating the latest research and cutting-edge applications of these basics. Each chapter includes timely, concrete, and real-life examples of communication concepts in action. A key feature of this book is the integration of content regarding diversity and organizational communication in each chapter through examples and/or discrete sub-sections. Also integrated into the content are examples that are inclusive in terms of race, gender, sexuality, ability, age, marital status, religion, and other diverse identity characteristics. The book has a 4.5/5 star rating from more than 35 reviews.

  • Communication Literacy: An Introduction to Communication Studies by Newsom & Montenegro (Newsom, Montenegro, Lengel, and Yeung) – Creative Commons

    (CC BY-NC-SA) This OER textbook provides a survey of the field of communication studies. In today’s world, it’s difficult or even nearly impossible to function without some level of communication literacy. That term, communication literacy, refers to the ability of an individual to not only convey their ideas, information, and messages to others, but also to be able to interpret and understand the ideas, information, and messages that they receive. The processes involved in communicating, or transferring messages and ideas between people, are far more intricate than many people recognize. In today’s world, these processes include a variety of forms and styles, such as interpersonal, digital, public, media, intercultural, transnational, gendered, racial, group, and organizational communication, to name a few. We refer to people who have the ability to communicate effectively in one or more of these modes as having communication competency, which requires a high level of “communication literacy” and knowledge of how communication actually works.

  • Communication Theory (WikiBooks)

    (CC BY-SA) Communication Theory is a Wikibook with an overview of communication theory. It includes an introduction and then has chapters covering theories from Uncertainty Reduction to Uses and Gratification to Social Systems and Network Society.

  • Introduction to Communication (Paynton and Hahn) in LibreTexts (CC BY-SA)

    This textbook is targeted for Introduction to Human Communication courses that introduce students to the study of Communication. The underlying organization addresses the importance of students to be able to answer the question, “What is Communication Study?” in a way that captures the field of Communication appropriately, as well as an important discipline across colleges and universities.

  • The Evolution of Human Communication: From Theory to Practice (Pierce) 

    (CC0) This book is private and accessible only to registered users. If you have an account you can sign in here. The Evolution of Human Communication is a more specialized text with a focus on theory. The book begins with an introduction to the field and then provides one chapter on each of the following topics: interpersonal, relationships, gender, media, intercultural, and rhetoric.

Introduction to Persuasion (C-ID COMM 190)

Textbooks

Additional Courses


Using an OER resource that is missing from the list above? If so, please let us know.

This page last updated January 29, 2024.