This thesis examines how and under what conditions Open Educational Resources (OER) can improve the dissemination of knowledge in Sub Saharan Africa. According to UNESCO’s definition, OER are digitised materials offered freely and openly for educators, students and self-learners to use and reuse for teaching, learning and research educational materials. The OER movement has mainly been led from the West, by large institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Thus, there is a danger that Africans will be consigned to the role of consumers of OER instead of producers. Nonetheless, OER offer great potentials for Africa if implemented appropriately. There is little literature on OER dealing specifically with Sub Sahara Africa, and the handful of articles that have been published on this topic take a narrow educational approach and avoid wider socio-economic and socio-political questions. Hence, this research examines not only how OER can be used as a cost-effective tool to improve the quality of education, but also how it might alleviate or worsen problems inhibiting knowledge dissemination such as information imperialism, brain drain, lack of access to education and knowledge to disadvantaged groups, intolerance to independent debate and civil conflict. In order to find some preliminary answers to these questions, additional data were gathered by conducting over twenty interviews with experts on OER in general or on ICT, education and development in Sub Saharan Africa.
The bottom line is that OER can help in dealing with some of the problems inhibiting the effective dissemination of knowledge in Sub Saharan Africa. However, only creating the necessary technological infrastructure in order to deliver OER will not be enough. The concept of OER can only work if Africans become more involved in the creation and adaptation OER according to their specific needs. Institutional, nation African wide and international policy frameworks should be put in place to enable this to happen. In order to establish such a policy framework,
African champions are needed on all levels to engage in awareness raising and
capacity building around the concept of OER and to start up pilot projects. Moreover, OER networks should be developed which can not only affect change on the policy level, but also on the lives of African people.