The web 2.0 in general and the Open Source world in particular shows how volunteer collaboration can result in innovative products and good learning opportunities at the same time. We want to find out what happens using approaches from that community to break barriers between teachers and learners to design and co-construct sites for participatory learning. Content creation, knowledge exchange, community dynamics, and the impact on the boundary between formal and informal education are key subjects of the project. The objective of the project is to evaluate the applicability of such approaches to support free/open learning provision within cross-cultural and multilingual settings. Particular attention is to be paid to factors such as: the evolution of content and communities; the speed of innovation; the quality of learning provision and learning outcomes; and possible revenue models.We propose to apply principles of open source communities and to ‘open-up’ the OU’s course ‘Practice Based Research in Educational Technology’, a course with multiplier potential, to generate a free and open course in Technology Enhanced Learning.The openEd project therefore will:1) Develop experimental approaches for participatory learning and teaching within open educational environments2) Implement and test those approaches by means of 3 consecutive pilots to promote continuity, community building and evolutionary growth3) Develop a sustainability framework and revenue models, to be implemented and tested alongside the pilots, to assure financial self-sustainability for such scenarios4) Analyze the results & benchmark them against initial assumptions5) Evaluate the project, disseminate outcomes and take the results further to the wider communityThe course would be truly open to: the project partners’ student/trainee/employee population; educational providers outside the project partnership; partners from associated networks, and free learners outside of formal education.