'Opening up education' is a motive that can be traced back throughout history of pedagogy. It has been revitalized in the past decade especially in the context of Open Education (OE) and the Open Educational Resources (OER) movement. Today, a variety of initiatives is aiming at opening up education on various levels using digital communications technologies and Creative Commons licenses as well as massive open online courses (moocs). The paper starts (1) with a brief outline of selected understandings of OE and OER and related claims, hopes and obstacles in Europe followed (2) by a discussion of ecologies concerning information, communication, knowledge and media and the relevance of contrasting perspectives for the educational discourse. Furthermore, the paper asks (3) for different understandings of 'education' in the OER movement and possible meanings and scopes of impact. Finally (4), the contribution aims at critical reflections on useful assessment criteria and basic requirements for informational ecosystems open for a manifold of future educational developments.