In Spring 2004, Laurie Taylor and Brendan Riley published an article in Computers and Composition on introducing the Open Source model into education to transform the nature of academic research and pedagogy. In regard to research, the authors argue that adoption of the model among authors would shift the ownership of academia’s intellectual property from publishers to academic authors. Today, the number of published works are limited by the high cost of publishing them. Adoption of an Open Source model, will expand primary publishing to electronic media and allow market demands and acclaim for each work to determine the extent of distribution. Faced with a future where continuous new knowledge production will be critical to ensure the success of individuals and organizations, integration of an Open Source-based model into academia could help ensure that knowledge production among academic professionals increases and is made available.

Adoption of an Open Source-based philosophy in the classroom that is centered on collaborative production, review, and continuous revision could support an exchange system worthy of sustaining continuous new knowledge production. In a potential classroom model, students will collaborate on a project where the continuous input knowledge contributes to the structure of the finished product. Taylor and Riley believe that by connecting with a greater community for review and evaluation of the project further enhances students project planning, design and communication skills.

Related: Other thoughts on the topic from SUNY Cortland’s English Department