Topic 2: Openness in education
When we refer to open education, we usually think about an education that is offered without requirements for academic admission and nowadays is primarily supported by digital technologies. An essential quality of open education is the removal of barriers for learning (1). Higher education can be regarded as limited to access, as prior qualifications and/or tuition fees are usually required for enrollment. Here, open higher education programs aid to give people a chance to gain knowledge without following a traditional campus-based university. However, they are often regarded as lacking the status and the recognition of a campus-based institution, as usually no prior requirements are necessary for enrollment. One aspect of openness in education is the development and adoption of open education resources (OER). This term was first introduced in the early 2000s and was defined as “teaching, learning and research materials in any medium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the publi