At its simplest, an open loop port is like a slot cut in the cylinder wall. I sometimes call them finger-ports, because they are like the extra ports we used to sometimes carve into snowmobile engines just before we would blow them up....
They work OK, but not as well as loop ports, which are like a tube formed into the cylinder material, with piston-supporting material over much of the port. These work better for a number of reasons, but one main one is that the mixture flow can be aimed better to push exhausst gases out more efficiently with a little less intermingling. They can also flow more gas without compromising bore wall surface area.