Following up on the results of the EDEN Research Workshop (RW8) in Oxford in 2014 and the Barcelona 2015 Annual Conference, a clear focus has been awarded to the expansion of emerging learning scenarios, identifying an ongoing shift towards greater attention to the importance of context in the learning process.

The EDENRW8 report from Tony Bates highlighted that openness needs to go beyond the content-centered focus. What is driving the need for new approaches is the massification of higher education and the need to find new ways to create openness, which requires a greater focus on the contexts of learning. This implies an integrated approach to online education and the various ways of openness in education which are now developing.