This research project will explore the prominent critiques and celebrations of MOOCs and their potential impact on existing educational systems. These issues will be addressed through a systematic discourse analysis of the popular debates surrounding MOOCs between September 2010 and September 2013. The project will take a discourse analysis approach to investigating these questions – drawing on established methodologies from linguistic studies and the social sciences. A large-scale corpus of text will be collated from popular and education-specific news media as well as the blogosphere. A combination of frame analysis and critical discourse analysis will provide a rich and rigorous account of what has been an important period in the recent history of educational technology – highlighting broader societal struggles over education and digital technology and capturing a significant moment before these debates subside with the normalization and assimilation of MOOCs into educational practice.
