Open education is more than just offering low or no-cost course materials to students. It is advocacy for better teaching that is based upon a community of inquiry, equal and early access to course materials for students, and sharing resources among the global community. Faculty can truly create their perfect textbook and break away from the one-size-fits-all approach. Education is more effective when we work together to remove access barriers.

Open education depends upon on the continuous development of open educational resources (OER) and open licensing of those materials, resulting in removal of access barriers for students.