Open Education refers to an educational approach that emphasises the removal of barriers, both technical and financial, to provide access to learning opportunities for a wide and diverse audience. In an Open Education framework, knowledge and educational resources are shared freely and openly as well as with no costs to users. Therefore Open Education aims to make materials accessible, flexible in use and inclusive. Those materials are described as Open Educational Resources (OER) that are openly available to the public.
OER can include a wide range of didactical methods and educational materials such as textbooks, lectures, lesson plans, or multimedia resources.