OER are becoming accepted as part of the range of materials that learners and educators can use. However, the methods and practices that enable learners, teachers and institutions to best engage with OER are not yet established and may well be more important in enabling change in education systems than the availability of the resources themselves. By looking at the experiences that The Open University in the UK has in direct provision of OER and the broader research carried out by the Open Learning Network (OLnet) initiative, several factors and related practices can be identified that should help encourage openness and engagement with OER.