The Discourses of OERs: how flat is this world?

Abstract

This paper proposes Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough, 2000) as a tool for identifying the various discourses that can be found in the provision of open educational resources. The argument will be built upon the concept of a 'flat world', a powerful metaphor used by Friedman in his famous book 'The World is Flat' (2005). The discussion will draw upon concepts of critical discourse analysis to explore sample data from open educational resources (OERs) initiatives, and will investigate the degree to which such initiatives have a 'flattening' effect in terms of widening participation and empowering individuals through access to knowledge.