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This article prepares the initial operational and theoretical groundwork for the link between open learning and the self-direction of the learner. This article, first of all, lays the basis for the definition according to which training is considered open if it offers freedom of choice to the learner, upon examination of the various components in the training program. Subsequently, this article suggests a three-pronged modelling which allows one to link the training offer and two socio-cognitive dimensions of self-directed learning : the perception of this offer — or the freedom of choice — of the learners regarding the program and their self-regulated behavior in managing this program. Lastly, this article demonstrates, based on the results of an empirical study, that the learners’ very perception of open learning plays a mediating role in the influence of the program on their self-regulated behavior.