Open Education: a wake up-call for the learning industry?

Key Message

Based on research from across the breadth of the learning industry, there are clear indications that the commercial learning industry has not yet fully engaged with open education (OE) or open educational resources (OER). The commercial hesitation to adopt OE is in large part due to a perceived lack of associated new business models. It is also due to the perceptionof OE being a potential threat to existing learning business models. This view neglects the important innovation potential that OE brings to the learning market. We present evidence that OE is growing quickly – e.g. in the academic world– even though only few industry members are currently supporting it. This creates a potential for market disruption – in similar ways as the music industry has experienced with the rise of Internet filesharing or the software industry with the rise of Open Source. To not proactively engage with open education, its production, use or practices, could present a serious threat to the sustainability of the current learning market.