Editing Open educational resources (section)

==Critical discourse about OER as a movement==

===External discourse===
The OER movement has been accused of insularity and failure to connect globally: "OERs will not be able to help countries reach their educational goals unless awareness of their power and potential can rapidly be expanded beyond the communities of interest that they have already attracted."<ref>{{Cite news| title = UNESCO and COL promote wider use of OERs| work = International Council for Open and Distance Education| access-date = 2011-01-01| date = 2010-06-24| url = http://www.icde.org/UNESCO+and+COL+promote+wider+use+of+OERs.b7C_wlrQXZ.ips| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101212215005/http://www.icde.org/UNESCO+and+COL+promote+wider+use+of+OERs.b7C_wlrQXZ.ips| url-status = dead| archive-date = 2010-12-12}}</ref>

More fundamentally, doubts were cast on the [[Altruism|altruistic]] motives typically claimed by OERs. The project itself was accused of [[imperialism]] because the economic, political, and cultural preferences of highly developed countries determine the creation and dissemination of knowledge that can be used by less-developed countries and may be a self-serving imposition.<ref>{{Cite thesis |degree=Masters |publisher=University of Amsterdam |last=Mulder |first=Jorrit |title=Knowledge Dissemination in Sub-Saharan Africa: What Role for Open Educational Resources (OER)? |year=2008 |pages=58–67 |access-date=2011-01-01 |url=http://www.gg.rhul.ac.uk/ict4d/workingpapers/mulderOER.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924022024/http://www.gg.rhul.ac.uk/ict4d/workingpapers/mulderOER.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-24 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

To counter the general dominance of OER from the developed countries, the Research on Open Educational Resources for Development (ROER4D) research project, aims to study how OER can be produced in the global south (developing countries) which can meet the local needs of the institutions and people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ROER4D Overview |url=https://www.roer4d.org/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=ROER4D |language=en-US}}</ref> It seeks to understand in what ways, and under what circumstances can the adoption of OER address the increasing demand for accessible, relevant, high-quality and affordable post-secondary education in the Global South.

One of the sub-projects of Research on OER for development project aimed to work with teachers from government schools in Karnataka, to collaboratively create OER, including in the Kannada language spoken in the state.<ref>{{cite web|title=OER: Articles, Books, Presentations and Seminars|url=http://africanminds.co.za/adoption-and-impact-of-oer-in-the-global-south/|work=ROER4D|publisher=African Minds|access-date=27 September 2020}}</ref> The aim was to create a model where teachers in public education systems (who number hundreds of thousands in most countries) can collaborate to create and publish OER.

===Internal discourse===
Within the open educational resources movement, the concept of OER is active.<ref>{{cite web|title=OER: Articles, Books, Presentations and Seminars|url=http://www.educause.edu/library/open-educational-resources-oer|work=EduCause.edu|publisher=Educause|access-date=23 April 2013|archive-date=24 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424081555/http://www.educause.edu/library/open-educational-resources-oer|url-status=dead}}</ref> Consider, for example, the conceptions of [[gratis versus libre]] knowledge as found in the discourse about [[MOOC|massive open online courses]], which may offer free courses but charge for end-of-course awards or course verification certificates from commercial entities.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rivard|first=Ry|title=Coursera begins to make money|url=http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/08/coursera-begins-make-money |publisher=Inside Higher Ed|access-date=25 April 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Carey|first=Kevin|title=The Brave New World of College Branding|url=http://chronicle.com/article/The-Brave-New-World-of-College/138107/|work=Chronicle.com|date=25 March 2013 |publisher=The Chronicle of Higher Education|access-date=25 April 2013}}</ref> A second example of essentially contested ideas in OER can be found in the usage of different OER logos which can be interpreted as indicating more or less allegiance to the notion of OER as a global movement.

[[Stephen Downes]] has argued that, from a [[Connectivism|connectivist]] perspective, the production of OER is ironic because "in the final analysis, we cannot produce knowledge for people. Period. The people who are benefiting from these open education resource initiatives are the people who are producing these resources."<ref>{{cite web|last=Downes|first=Stephen|title=The Role of Open Educational Resources in Personal Learning|url=https://www.evernote.com/shard/s59/sh/4f75978a-415f-4786-9132-3df5efdae7f0/a0ac2190fb9fd581c26b9fd9150f95a4|work=VI International Seminar of the UNESCO chair in e-Learning|publisher=Universitat Oberta de Catalunya|access-date=17 June 2013}}</ref>