The growth of open source software which has now become a culture of openness and other related trends is advancing from the edges of society to the core of academic culture. In this article we provide an overview of how the expansion of open source software in culture at large has affected the world of education, describe how the greater use of open source software in education has unfolded hand-inhand with the development of open course content and open access research. We also argue that this more comprehensive shift towards “openness” in academic practice is not only a positive trend, but a necessary one in order to ensure transparency, collaboration, and continued innovation in the academy.