"Open Education" is a topic which has become increasingly popular in a variety of contexts. This handbook has been written to provide a useful point of reference for readers with a range of different roles and interests who are interested in learning more about the concept of Open Education and to help them deal with a variety of practical situations.

As a "living" online document, we hope that it will continue to evolve, reflecting cutting edge research and innovation in this area and helping educational communities to come to an improved understanding of the value of open.

When the process of writing this book first started, the original intention was only to cover open data use in education. As the project progressed it was felt that a broader scope would enable readers to have a better understanding of the synergy and overlap between different aspects or facets of open education (such as open resources, open data, open practices and open culture).

We have been guided by the idea that the handbook will continue to grow and evolve through involvment with the learning communities it is intended to support. The latest version of this handbook includes:

- An overview of different elements of the open education ecosystem
- Information about useful tools and software
- Useful references
- A glossary of terms commonly used in open education
- Case studies and real-life examples
- Answers to frequently asked questions
- Discussion of key issues in open education

Keywords

learning analytics · OER assessment · OER development. open textbooks · OER history · OER in the developing world · OER misperceptions · OER policy · OER quality · open badges · open communities · open data · open education · open licences