A Typology for OER Business Models

Abstract

This paper provides an update on activity in the innovation and business models strand of the ENCORE+ project. A range of business models that support or draw on open educational resources (OER) have been proposed. This paper reviews models that have been proposed (Tlili et al., 2020; Padilla Rodriguez et al., 2018; Belleflamme & Jacqmin, 2015; Ubachs & Konings, 2016; and Farrow, 2019) and suggests a synthesis into one typology of OER business models. The ENCORE+ OER Business Model Typology has been developed as part of a wider effort to understand and evaluate economically sustainable approaches to OER as well as to formulate OER value propositions for different stakeholders. In related work, a range of OER innovation case studies (N=48) are being prepared for publication. These will illustrate different instances of innovation with OER and show how OER actors understand their value proposition to different audiences.

Keywords

• open educational resources (oer)
• open educational practices (oep)
• innovation
• evaluation
• business models
• sustainability