• What is the connection between open, online, flexible and technology-enhanced (OOFAT) approaches to education and sustainable and innovative business models? This is one question posed by the OOFAT Models project (funded by ICDE and conducted by researchers from The Open University’s OER Hub and Forschungsinstitut für Bildungs- und Sozialökonomie (FIBS) in Germany). Our OOFAT concept models Content (consisting of subject knowledge, support and guidance and learning analytics, which together make up the entirety of the didactical process); Delivery (consisting of the qualities of place, pace and timing of delivery of the content, key events and processes); and Recognition and assessment (consisting of both assessment and credentialization, which are formal processes leading to recognition of learning achievements). Each of these dimensions are analysed in terms of flexibility (how digital technology is harnessed to reduce the need for physical presence) and openness (how the principle of openness is integrated (in various ways) into the core processes; from closed group to open network). The main purpose of the study is to develop models that demonstrate different practice in terms of how one or more elements of OOFAT are used to offer flexible learning in a sustainable model. The presentation will include a brief description of method and dataset; a summary of results; highlight interesting exemplars which could be scaled up or adopted by other through innovation pathways; and provide a typology of open business practices and business model exemplars.
