This week I've been studying disruptive technologies in education. If you're not familiar with the phrase, you might be expecting something like The Terminator where the machines come to wreak havoc in the classroom.
Unfortunately, disruptive technology is a bit of a misnomer. It isn't something inherently negative to be prevented. Rather, it is something transformative that improves something in a big way.
The wheel was an example of disruptive technology. All the people were trudging along dragging and pushing this or that and making little progress. Then someone came along and fashioned a wheel, and things started moving at a faster pace. Literally.
The internet is another example of disruptive technology. People were getting along ok, but communication and collaboration were things that either had to take place in person, or they required slow courier services. When the internet popped up, people were suddenly able to share documents and media with anyone in the world almost instantly.
In education, these world-changing disruptive technologies have meant educators must continually evolve to not only teach these technologies, but also adapt the ways they teach.
With each new tool, though, educators are faced with trying to understand if and how these tools can improve the educational experience of students. This week, I scratched the surface on my study of disruptive technology, and the following are just a few insights.
Flavin (2021) studied the usage of an innovative assessment technology in an interdisciplinary course and discovered students use the simplest path to complete a task, according to their perceptions of the available options. Technology that made the task simpler was more likely to be used, but technology that had a steep learning curve was not, even when it allowed for greater expression or creativity.
This stands to reason if you think about it. If I, as a student, have two options for an assignment and the first is easier to accomplish than the second, I would need some additional motivation to choose the second more difficult option.
Flavin (2021) explains that one of the barriers with attempting to use innovative assessment technology is when the way it is discussed or presented doesn't match the reality. Institutions often say they are using innovative tools, but then fail to support them with adequate professional development for faculty and course developers, or fail to use them fully. When that happens, the tools just seem like a shiny button that just clicks when pressed.
Hall & Lulich (2021) reviewed the words and ideas presented in 46 top university's strategic plans. The language speaks broadly of innovation and technology, but the strategies don't provide the actual strategic plans to achieve those initiatives.
Flavin & Quintero (2020) found similar inconsistencies in their review of 84 more documents from 71 universities. The talk of innovation is big, but the plans, themselves, are modest.
When the great inventions enter our world, they have a way of transforming our expectations and our definitions of normal. Inevitably, in that process of change, some people are quick to see the impending shift and rush to embrace it into their toolkit.
Unfortunately, higher ed is not often among those that change quickly. It isn't fair to say they're never leading the charge. After all, the internet, itself, was born in higher ed. But despite that, they are often behind the K-12 arena, and both higher ed and K-12 are far behind some corporate endeavors.
When groundbreaking inventions emerge, they redefine our expectations and alter our perception of normalcy. These innovations, whether technological advancements or scientific breakthroughs, inevitably disrupt the status quo, reshaping industries, societies, and even our daily lives. So, why then are educators frequently among the reluctant and late adopters of technology?
Great inventions often start as a spark of genius, then set off a chain reaction, creating new industries, opportunities, and ways of living. The transformative power of these inventions lies not only in their immediate utility but in their capacity to open up new possibilities, driving further innovation and progress.
Early adopters quickly see the potential of a new invention and are eager to incorporate it into their lives or businesses. They are often visionaries, willing to take risks and invest in unproven technologies.
Higher ed prefers the proven to the unproven, though. And with limited resources and many facing lower enrollments in the post-Covid years, being wrong could mean the dissolution of a school, not just a setback.
Disruptions to the norm are inherently challenging. They require individuals and organizations to rethink their practices, adapt to new realities, and often, to acquire new skills. For some, this is an exciting prospect, a chance to innovate and lead. For others, it represents a daunting upheaval, fraught with uncertainty and risk. The friction between these perspectives can slow the adoption of new technologies, creating a lag between invention and widespread implementation.
The goal, as I see it, is to find better ways to quickly measure the effectiveness of technology for educational experiences. The more quickly our intuitions about the awesome new gadget or gizmo tool for education can be validated, the more quickly higher ed can justify the expenditure of resources and shift their strategic focus.
References
Flavin, M. (2021). A Disruptive Innovation perspective on students’ opinions of online assessment. Research in Learning Technology, 29. https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v29.2611
Flavin, M., & Quintero, V. (2020). An international study of technology enhanced learning-related strategies from the perspective of disruptive innovation. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 17(4), 475–488. https://doi.org/10.1108/itse-11-2019-0077
Hall, R., & Lulich, J. (2021). University Strategic Plans: What they Say about Innovation. Innovative Higher Education, 46(3), 261–284. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-020-09535-5
Interesting and someday I’ll share my thoughts with you about new things and changes. With age comes some wisdom and new ideas, but not nearly enough innovators take the time or see any value in discussing their ideas and thoughts. Communication between educators, companies, scientists, and the (beat) goes on is the key that opens doors and put it all together. (Beat should be list- but prefer beat and even hippies had amazing ideas.)