What technological innovations spring to mind in the field of education?
Computer related: photocopier, scanner, videoconferencing, simulations, multiplayer options, second life, wikipedia, webinars, skipe, flash player, you tube, blogging, mp3, podcasts, apps, i-pod/-phone/pad, wee, open source, twitter, smart board, social networks
As I am not a teacher, I am not aware of innovations in class room teaching or in the education / pedagogic area.
Does an innovation have to be useful?
If an idea does not find its use in some or another context, it is not an innovation in my opinion. It just stays to be an idea or an invention.
Is it always disruptive?
An innovation is almost always to some extend disruptive, irritating, disturbing. That lies in its nature of being new or bringing change to a social system.
E.M. Rogers described the diffusion of innovations in a society through the categories of adopters are: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels (3) over time (4) among the members of a social system. http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/documents/diffusion/rogers.htm , accessed, Feb 2011
Does it lead to far-reaching changes in practice?
On one hand, I don’t think that every innovation necessarily leads to far-reaching changes. It might just make difficult procedures a bit easier or save time or money by doing so. Or it makes certain procedures more enjoyable or available to a wider user group.
This can be far reaching, because people have more time or money and change their general behavior. This might lead to changing structures over time.
On the other hand, yes, everything I consider to be a true innovation has some potential to initiate far-reaching changes by implementing small or large changes.
How does innovation come about?
Innovation can be a solution to a problem. It can be an improvement for a process, product or service. It can be the adaption of an invention. It can be an adoption of new technology.
Hallo Ulrike,
ReplyDeletenice blog, although the books do not really display the concept of innovation, at least not for 2011. But, at Gutenberg's time they were a real innovation ;-)
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia,
ReplyDeleteyou are right. Maybe I just longed for somthing more tangible, when I chose the design.
Ah.. good old days:)
Ulrike
Hi Ulrike,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately we don't have any overlap in the case studies we've chosen, but I like the way you've structured your notes.
Just one thing - I'm trying to subscribe to your blog in Google Reader, but I can't find an RSS link anywhere on the page. Have you switched it off in your settings, or do Blogger blogs not have RSS feeds?
Derek
Hello Derek,
ReplyDeletethanks for your comment. With the RSS feed I have some problems. I tried to install it but it did not work. I have another strange problems: I cannot past text into posts. I need to fix this, as it is very uncomfortable.
Ulrike