---
title: 'What is Open Education?'
url: 'https://levesaudavel.com.br/open-education-essentials/section-1'
markdown: 'https://levesaudavel.com.br/open-education-essentials/section-1.md'
date: '2026-09-14'
description: 'Open education is built on a simple idea: learning materials should be as accessible and adaptable as the knowledge they contain. The 5Rs Framework The most widely used framework for open educational resources describes five essential permissions – the 5Rs: Retain – keep a copy of the resource Reu…'
---

# What is Open Education?

Open education is built on a simple idea: learning materials should be as accessible and adaptable as the knowledge they contain.

## The 5Rs Framework

The most widely used framework for open educational resources describes five essential permissions – the **5Rs**:

1. **Retain** – keep a copy of the resource
2. **Reuse** – use it in your own context, unchanged
3. **Revise** – adapt, adjust, modify, or translate it
4. **Remix** – combine it with other open resources to create something new
5. **Redistribute** – share copies of the original, revised, or remixed version

When a resource carries a Creative Commons license, it grants some or all of these permissions explicitly.

## Why Content Ownership Matters

Most LMS platforms store course content in proprietary formats tied to an institutional account. When you leave the institution – or when the platform changes – your content can become difficult or impossible to recover in a usable form.

Open course design addresses this by keeping content in portable, human-readable formats (like Markdown) backed up in version-controlled repositories. The content belongs to you, not the platform.

 Tip

Markdown files stored in a GitHub or Codeberg repository are readable in any text editor and will outlast any platform or vendor.

## A Spectrum of Openness

Open education isn't all-or-nothing. You can start by making one module of your course openly accessible, or by publishing your syllabus as a public Markdown file. Every step toward openness makes your content more durable and more useful to others.

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## Navigation

- Next: [Tools for Open Course Design](https://levesaudavel.com.br/open-education-essentials/section-2.md)
- Children:
  - [A Spectrum of Openness](https://levesaudavel.com.br/open-education-essentials/section-1/a-spectrum-of-openness.md)
  - [Creative Commons Licenses](https://levesaudavel.com.br/open-education-essentials/section-1/creative-commons-licenses.md)
  - [Getting Started with OER](https://levesaudavel.com.br/open-education-essentials/section-1/getting-started-with-oer.md)