Openness Without Co-Creation? A Critical-Integrative Review of Open Educational Resources and Open Educational Practices Through User Innovation, Open Innovation, and Service-Dominant Logic

Abstract

Neither effective participation in shaping the institutional conditions governing educational resources nor the realization of educational value can be directly inferred from the formal openness of these resources. This study addresses this mediation problem by examining Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Educational Practices (OEP) as condition-dependent forms of cooperative knowledge production within the framework of a theoretical triangulation of user innovation, open innovation, and service-dominant logic. Methodologically, it combines a systematic literature review covering the period from January 1, 2020, to September 15, 2026, with a critical-integrative evidence synthesis; identification and selection are documented in accordance with PRISMA 2020. Out of approximately 10,122 identified records, 20 studies were included; supplementary literature expands the theoretical, methodological, and contextual frame of reference to about 113 publications. The synthesis addresses four thematic clusters: student knowledge production, institutional governance, generatively assisted co-creation, and multidimensional value assessment. As a central theoretical finding, openness is reconstructed as an institutionally mediated relationship within which the incorporation of users’ experiences of problems and their translation into context-specific educational value each require independent bridging premises. Thus, substantive co-creation presupposes effective influence on relevant decisions; such influence cannot be inferred from resource availability or productive task participation alone. Furthermore, in an exploratory secondary analysis of 31 complete cases, the relationship between concerns about publication and willingness to participate again remains imprecisely estimated after accounting for perceived educational value (partial rank correlation = −.18; 95% bootstrap confidence interval [−.49, .23]); institutional co-decision-making was not assessed. Within the premise-based determinant-indicator matrix, the theoretical mediating assumptions are related to observable decision-making relationships and counter-indicators without prejudging their empirical validity. For tertiary education and innovation management, this results in a framework for evaluation that combines the actual exercisability of granted decision-making rights with the consideration of well-founded objections and the revisability of institutional conditions and establishes an empirical research agenda on the distribution of realized educational value.