Open education refers to a setup where through the use of technology, teachers and learners alike have free access to high-quality educational resources for schools regardless of their location. This can be brought about and made possible by technology. In addition, these resources are produced in collaboration with other individuals not necessarily belonging to the same educational institution or being in the same location. This would be of immense benefit to students because the production and usage of educational resources for schools will be localized and will be able to adapt to an individual learner's specific needs. This system will radically change the methods in which knowledge is created and passed on between educators and learners.
The term “resource” is recognised as a supply of materials or assets that can repeatedly be drawn upon as a source until the time it runs out. In this context, renewable resources can be defined as something which can be drawn upon without its stock being diminished, while non-renewable resources are stocks that eventually decrease when they are used. Knowledge, therefore can be categorised as a renewable resource because it cannot be diminished, only modified and added upon.
When we talk of open educational resources for schools, one thing that would come to mind would be digital resources such as computer drives, CDs, flash drives and digital devices that can also store and modify data such as PDAs, smartphones, netbooks and tablets. From a state policymaker or school administrator's point of view, open educational resources for schools may also include school facilities such as buildings, libraries and computer facilities in addition to public libraries that students can freely access for educational purposes. In an open educational setup which is largely computer-based, a resource can refer to learning content stored in a digital repository as a text, audio or video file in its broadest classification.
