Abstract: We argue that information systems educators-and others in similarly dynamic professional disciplines-could benefit from an alternative infrastructure for learning. We present an "open classroom" model of education which expands upon Ferris' (2002) collaborative partnership model of education by integrating "open" technologies such as Wiki and Open Source Software to create enduring "knowledge products" that more completely engage the students and provide value to society. We further view this concept through the lens of a social-technical system to demonstrate how such a system represents significant, third order change to traditional classroom environments. We illustrate our model with two successful cases from our personal teaching experiences.

Keywords: Collaborative partnership model, Social-technical system, Open source software, Wiki, Knowledge creation

Download this article: JISE - Volume 19 Number 1, Page 75.pdf

Recommended Citation: Watson, R. T., Boudreau, M. -C., York, P. T., Greiner, M., & Wynn, D. E. (2008). Opening the Classroom. Journal of Information Systems Education, 19(1), 75-86.