We live in remarkable times. "The Internet is the fabric of our lives" (Castells, 2001, p.1) and is changing the way we live, learn, work, create. One of the most important and remarkable changes is a new culture of sharing fostered by the interconnected networks of computers and humans. However, the birth of the digital commons doesn't arise without costs and effort and there seems to be various understandings of what it means for learning and formal, nonformal and informal education.

Free/Libre and Open Source Software, Open Educational Resources and Open Access have been seen as powerful levers for bringing change in education. The symposium brings together three contributors from three different countries that will explore and outline global perspectives on these issues, identifying implications for education. The discussion will be sustained in a tangible way by analysing real cases, projects and practices from
around the globe. This symposium aims to offer some clarification about conceptual frameworks that act as crucial contributions to the drawing of the present educational landscape.

The overview provided by the contributors is not intended as a description but as background to stimulate and enrich the conversation and further the discussion about the implications for education of these approaches. The symposium aims are framed by a wider discussion regarding what Downes (2011) described as "the major philosophical divides in 21st century education":

- commercial vs non-commercial? What is the role of the private for-profit sector in learning? Is open education the the final full flourishing of public education, or is it the end of it?
- directed learning vs self-directed learning (or, instructivism or constructivism; or, formal vs informal; or, control learning vs free learning) - or to put it another way - does the education system serve the interests of the providers, or of the learners? (p.7)

Castells, M. (2001). The Internet galaxy: reflections on the Internet,business, and society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Downes, Stephen (2011). Free Learning - Essays on open educational resources and copyright.
http://www.downes.ca/files/books/FreeLearning.pdf