Business models for Open Educational Resources: how to exploit OER after a funded project?

Abstract

Open Educational Resources (OER) projects often face the challenge of how to sustain and develop further the resources after the initial project funding comes to an end. OER are provided for free and open for anybody to re-use, modify and distribute. How than can the producers exploit the resources, are there any feasible business models, especially models which could remove or at least reduce dependence on limited and insecure funding? This article presents results of a survey of literature on OER business models and an overview of models identified in the literature. For projects which developed a learning program with OER the freemium model is being considered as a promising model.

Full text

Draft – originally published in: Geser, G., Schön, S. & Ebner, M. (2019). Business models for Open Educational
Resources: how to exploit OER after a funded project?. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia +
Innovate Learning (pp. 1519-1525). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved July 14, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210171/
Business models for Open Educational Resources:
how to exploit OER after a funded project?
Guntram Geser
Sandra Schön
Salzburg Research, Innovation Lab
Austria
guntram.geser@salzburgresearch.at
sandra.schoen@salzburgresearch.at
Martin Ebner
Graz University of Technology
Austria
martin.ebner@tugraz.at
Abstract: Open Educational Resources (OER) projects often face the challenge of how to sustain
and develop further the resources after the initial project funding comes to an end. OER are
provided for free and open for anybody to re-use, modify and distribute. How than can the
producers exploit the resources, are there any feasible business models, especially models which
could remove or at least reduce dependence on limited and insecure funding? This article presents
results of a survey of literature on OER business models and an overview of models identified in
the literature. For projects which developed a learning program with OER the freemium model is
being considered as a promising model.
1. Introduction: OER as a challenge for exploitation of project results
Open Educational Resources, short OER, are any learning and teaching materials that are provided for free and can
be used under an open license (e.g. Creative Commons BY). In addition to free access and easy re-use it is important
to note that OER are intended to promote participation in education and support open educational practices (Geser,
2007). As many teachers are still not familiar with the concept of OER, didactic centers of universities and
organizations for continuing professional development can play a key role to foster its take-up. Especially important
is guidance on how to address copyright issues and use of open licenses for own educational material (Ebner et al.,
2016).
OER go against the grain of traditional forms of education as well as copyright constraints that impede the
open and creative use of learning resources in classrooms and higher education. These barriers come on top of
restrictions set by copyright law in many European and other countries to legitimately use pieces of published media
or artistic content in an educational setting (Nobre, 2017).
OER have a high potential for innovation in formal as well as extra-curricular education, however, there a
many challenges as well. Our paper addresses the challenge of projects which received initial funding to develop
OER for a learning program and need to consider how the project partners can sustain and develop further the
resources. OER are provided for free and open for anybody to re-use, modify and distribute. How than can the
producers exploit the resources, are there any feasible business models?
Questions of sustainability and exploitation often come up in research and innovation projects funded from
European programs and others where the partners are expected to carry forward the project results. In our case, the
EU-funded project DOIT - Entrepreneurial Skills for Young Social Innovators in an Open Digital World (October
2017–September 2020), OER of the DOIT learning program will be the core products. In a nutshell, DOIT trials a
new approach aimed to empower young people (6–16 years old), together with educators, to co-create in

Draft – originally published in: Geser, G., Schön, S. & Ebner, M. (2019). Business models for Open Educational
Resources: how to exploit OER after a funded project?. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia +
Innovate Learning (pp. 1519-1525). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved July 14, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210171/
makerspaces innovative solutions for societal issues. The DOIT OER supports the creative process by fostering
digital, social and entrepreneurial competences of the participants (Hornung-Prähauser et al., 2018).
2. Research questions and approach
The OER of the DOIT creative learning program are provided under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
4.0) license, which allows unrestricted re-use, except that the project and individual creators must be recognized.
Not available under this license, but CC BY-ND (NoDerivatives), is content such as images or videos showing
children, which will not be considered here. The open approach of the DOIT project does not impede exploitation of
the OER by DOIT partners, but makes it difficult because the products are freely available, there is no copyright
protection, and others can try exploiting them as well. Therefore, strategies and business models need to be
investigated which might work in such a situation.
The research questions we are exploring are: Which business models for OER have been identified,
especially models which could remove or at least reduce dependence on limited and insecure funding? Are there
models which could more likely than others work for OER initiatives such as DOIT?
We investigated the question of which business models for OER have been identified by looking into relevant
publications of (mostly) OER community members since the start of the OER movement over 10 years ago. In a
second step, the project partners will explore exploitation strategies around the most promising business model
identified. Below we present results from our survey of literature on OER business models, followed by an overview
of business model options considered in the literature, and a summary of key points for the exploitation of OER
projects like DOIT.
3. OER business models identified
Many publications touched upon the topic of OER business models as a part of one or more case studies of OER
initiatives, often addressing the question of how to expand and sustain them with additional funding and/or more
contributors, while discussion of different models is surprisingly rare. It appears that many community/ volunteer-
based initiatives and available funding by governments and foundations and/or from internal resources of
educational institutions left little room for considering a wider range of feasible business models. As an example,
Petrides & Limes (2008) described six OER projects in different parts of the world of which only three considered
long-term sustainability: One project in the United States had the ambitious “business model” of establishing a fund
of US$ 2.5 million in order to sustain from the interest their basic operation. Two projects in Africa were struggling
to secure public or private grants without considering other options.
While side-lining as long as possible other or additional options to funding streams was the approach of many
initiatives, some publications made clear that there are such options worth to consider. Business models suggested
by these publications are summarized in Table 2 in the next section.
Still one of the best overviews of a wider range of OER business models can be found in Downes (2007,
pp.34-36). Together with two other papers commissioned by the OECD Centre for Educational Research and
Innovation (Dholakia et al., 2006, Wiley, 2006) it provided a basis for a chapter on sustainability issues in the first
major OECD report on OER (OECD 2007, pp.87-98). While the chapter urged initiatives to consider thoroughly
their long-term sustainability, looking for different financing options, it did not address the full range of OER
business options/models presented by Downes (2007).
Another publication relevant in this regard is by Guthrie et al. (2008) who described revenue generation
options with a focus on online academic resources. Their report was for the not-for-profit organization Ithaka (USA)
which helps the academic community use digital technologies to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways;
in 2014 Ithaka issued an update of the report (Maron, 2014).
The overview by Guthrie et al. (2008, pp.26-53) includes as direct beneficiaries pay options: Subscription or
one-time payment, Pay-per-use, Contributor pays model; as indirect beneficiaries pay options: Host institutional
funds/in-kind contributions, Corporate sponsorships, Advertisers, Build diverse streams of philanthropic funding,
and Leveraging content through licensing. The 2014 update in addition especially considers “freemium” models in
which some resources are provided for free with the aim to move users to pay for added value products or services.

Draft – originally published in: Geser, G., Schön, S. & Ebner, M. (2019). Business models for Open Educational
Resources: how to exploit OER after a funded project?. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia +
Innovate Learning (pp. 1519-1525). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved July 14, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210171/
This report also discusses some models in greater detail and includes short case studies on more recent examples
(Maron 2014).
Stacey (2012) describes several examples of business options for an “economics of open”, and in 2015
launched an Open Business Model Canvas initiative inviting OER projects to develop and share a canvas (Creative
Commons, 2015). In the DOIT project we also use a Business Model Canvas as a tool for discussing and thinking
through various aspects such as value propositions, key resources and activities, partners, relationships with users,
dissemination channels, etc.
De Langen & Bitter-Rijkema (2012) and De Langen (2013) criticize that earlier attempts to identify a
potentially sustainable OER business model, especially among revenue based models, ignored the complexity of
such a model as revealed by Business Canvas Modelling. They suggest an OER exchange network with a central
hub through which educational institutions share their OER, while benefiting from value network effects. The
suggestion appears to be motivated by their background in the Open University Netherlands, which is a sustaining
member of the Open Education Consortium. However, around that time according to Janssen et al. (2012) the
university offered “open” only some short courses for marketing purposes; they present results of a survey on three
OER levels the university might go for, 100%, 10%, or stick to the current level.
Going beyond the usual methods of case studies, Okoli & Wan (2015) employed the Delphi method to
identify relevant business models for OER. In three Delphi rounds 19 experts in OER and online education
identified 18 models of which they considered ten as relevant for OER.
In 2015, OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation again published a large report on OER as a
catalyst for innovation. The report contains a chapter on how to secure the sustainability of OER initiatives (Orr et
al. 2015, pp.109-126). It does not provide new insights but summarizes requirements and measures of success of
three basic models: Community-based, Philanthropy-based, and Revenue-based (commercial). Furthermore the
report considers an Institutional (hybrid) model which uses OER to receive government or philanthropic support
and/or attract more fee-paying students. For each of the three basic models the report describes which resources are
needed, where challenges lie, and how the success of the model can be measured (see Table 1).
Community-based Model
Philanthropy-based Model
Revenue-based Model
Scarce
Resource
Engagement of community
members
Donors and funding volume for
specific purposes of the OER
Revenue from users or other
sources
Challenge
Extension and mainstreaming
may disenfranchise original
contributors
Central management and
control of OER quality
Donors funding is time limited
Donors determine some
objectives
Offering OER for free might
decrease size of own market
Measures
for Success
Size of community
Dynamism of community
Sustained funding
Keeping community objectives
Sufficient revenues to stay in
the business
Table 1. OER sustainability models. Adapted from Orr et al., 2015, p.111, Figure 10.1.
The report gives examples for each model. Some examples illustrate a shift towards a mixed model, in particular
community-based OER initiatives which added income generating methods to secure sustainability. The authors
expect that OER provision will increasingly be based on mixed models.
Recently the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) conducted a large survey of how
higher education providers from more than thirty countries across the world are using open online approaches to
improve teaching and learning. The survey found that of 69 cases around 80% use some OER as a part of their
course provision (Orr et al. 2018, p.22).
The chapter on business models addresses five strategies which are based on the empirical results of the
survey (Orr et al. 2018: 33-42). Understanding learning products and services as the core of education provision,
especially in the case of open and distance learning providers, the following models are distinguished: “fixed core”

Draft – originally published in: Geser, G., Schön, S. & Ebner, M. (2019). Business models for Open Educational
Resources: how to exploit OER after a funded project?. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia +
Innovate Learning (pp. 1519-1525). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved July 14, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210171/
(27 cases), “entrepreneurial with fixed core” (21), “entrepreneurial” (11), “outreach” (6) and “service-provider” (4).
Furthermore the study distinguishes between defender- and prospector-like approaches with regard to seven
dimensions of the business model: Products and services, Target group, Communication channels, Networks,
Legacy or new value chain, Competitive advantage, Profitability and sustainability.
Educational institutions which focus on a traditional fixed core, outreach or service provision are seen as
more defensive. But these may still be innovative in some respects, e.g. target groups and new communication
channels in the case of an outreach focus. In general, the study results suggest that the surveyed institutions “are
particularly innovative around their core products and services, rather than being innovative with them” (Orr et al.,
2018, p.42). Obviously, innovative activities around a fixed core are less risky than a more entrepreneurial, perhaps
disruptive approach regarding the institutional core business. The 11 institutions with a distinct entrepreneurial
approach demonstrate innovative strategies in the area of products and services combined with new target groups
and communication channels, in other respects they are very diverse.
4. Overview of business models
In the literature of the OER community there is generally little consideration of exploitation of OER in a commercial
sense. The reasons for this are that OER are usually provided to all learners openly and free of charge, and the
assumption that such resources should be financed by public or philanthropic funds. Therefore the discussion
focuses not on exploitation but how projects and institutions can sustain the provision of the OER, after they have
been created with some initial funding and/or a volunteering group of providers.
Table 2 gives an overview of business model options considered as suitable for OER in publications which
address a range of options (Downes, 2007, Guthrie et al., 2008, Maron, 2014, Okoli & Wan, 2015, Stacey, 2012).
Some of the options are not appropriate for the free OER but for added value products and services,
Business Models
Brief Description
Community-based
In-kind contribution of content or support of activities by community members; the
community of practice maintains and extends the OER (this model often depends on a
few highly committed core people)
Institutional
An organization assumes responsibility for maintaining the OER in-kind, aligned
with their overall mission and core business; education/training organizations can
incorporate the OER as a free element of their otherwise paid or sponsored course
offering
Governmental/NGO
Subsidies or grants by a governmental agency or larger NGO; such funding can be
significant but is often unstable due to shifting policy priorities
Philanthropic
Subsidies or grants by foundations, smaller donations by individuals (e.g. crowd-
funding)
Endowment
Financial contributions by one or several parties to a fund, interest earned on the fund
finances the OER provision
Membership
Annual contribution to a membership organization (financial or an agreed amount of
support work or service provision); the organization manages the maintenance,
extension and quality assurance of a shared collection of OER
Partnerships
Exchange of complementary resources and knowledge among a group of partners
(less formal than a membership organization)
Corporate Sponsorship
Acknowledged support of the OER initiative by a company (financial support, cost-
free use of services or other)
Advertisers
Paid advertising of third parties is placed on OER content; suitable advertisers must
be well chosen (issue of exposing students to advertising)
Contributor Pays
Is a model for open access academic publications not appropriate for individual OER

Draft – originally published in: Geser, G., Schön, S. & Ebner, M. (2019). Business models for Open Educational
Resources: how to exploit OER after a funded project?. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia +
Innovate Learning (pp. 1519-1525). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved July 14, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210171/
contributors; institutional providers may pay for the hosting of larger amounts of
OER
Consultancy, Training
and Other Support
Support of third parties for using the OER in their programs, especially if the set of
OER and activities follow a certain model (e.g. DOIT co-creative social innovation)
Course and/or
Certificate Fees
The OER is free but students (or sponsors) pay for the educational program; in some
cases the students can learn on their own but pay for the assessment and certificate
Value Added Products
or Services
Users do not pay for the OER but added value, for example enriched formats, special
tools or services; called freemium or conversion model if the provider actively uses
the OER to convert users to customers of the value added products or services
Licensing Value Added
Content
Producers who add significant value to openly available OER can try to license the
enhanced content to education/training providers
Table 2. Overview of Business Model Options for OER
There is no lack of business model options but each comes with specific requirements as well as advantages and
disadvantages. OER projects considering certain options therefore are advised to consult the mentioned and other,
more specialized literature on the models.
5. Insights for OER exploitation strategies
Building on the results of our research, especially the table above, we developed a card game to support business
modelling. Each business model described in Tab. 2 is one of 14 cards. The cards can be used by single users or
groups in workshops as starting point to support the development of a business model for OER projects. The print-
out for the card game is published at the DOIT homepage and available under an open license (CC BY international
4.0). We will investigate formats and collect experiences on how to use them in workshop designs in our future
work.
Figure 1. Exemplary business model cards (left) and print-out preview (right).
From the surveyed literature the following key points can be summarized:
• OER are often produced based on one-off seed-funding from government or philanthropic donors, and need
to develop sustainability strategies when this funding comes to an end.
• OER initiatives nowadays recognize that they cannot only count on public or private funding but at least
need to develop a mixed approach, including appropriate other options (sometimes called “integrated”
models).

Draft – originally published in: Geser, G., Schön, S. & Ebner, M. (2019). Business models for Open Educational
Resources: how to exploit OER after a funded project?. In J. Theo Bastiaens (Ed.), Proceedings of EdMedia +
Innovate Learning (pp. 1519-1525). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE). Retrieved July 14, 2019 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/210171/
• A variety of options for sustaining OER initiatives exists, but no “one-size-fits-all” approach because of the
differences between initiatives regarding goals, types of OER, contexts (e.g. volunteers vs. institutional).
• The perceived complexity of OER business models may have stimulated the recent popularity of Business
Canvas Modelling in the community.
• It appears that more initiatives now consider the freemium or conversion model in which the OER is
available for free while value added products or services must be paid; this model has often been rejected
by the first generation of OER advocates.
Among the existing business models the freemium model could fit for DOIT and similar projects which received
initial funding to develop a learning program with OER modules and aim to sustain and exploit it. In this model the
OER is freely available so that providing services for third parties to adopt the DOIT learning program is a clear
business model candidate. After they have co-developed the program, run it with groups in 10 European countries,
and evaluated the outcomes the project partners will be well positioned to provide services for adopters of the
program. The services can be consultancy, training and support, customization of the program and modules, learning
assessment, program evaluation. Partners who are educational institutions or training providers can of course also
include the program in their portfolio.
Acknowledgement & Disclaimer
The DOIT project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme under grant agreement No 770063. The content of this publication does not reflect the official opinion
of the European Union. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in the publication lies entirely with
the authors.
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Draft – originally published in: Geser, G., Schön, S. & Ebner, M. (2019). Business models for Open Educational
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