Technology-based Innovation

[Part 1]Dr Palitha EdirisinghaInstitute of Learning InnovationUniversity of Leicester106, New WalkLeicester LE1 7EA- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Tel: +44 (0)116 252 3753Mobile: +44 (0)7525 246592Email: pe27@le.ac.uk

First used in February 2014in an MA course

Part 1

The foundationKey ideas

Learning outcomes

1. Develop an understanding of the features of innovations through technology.

2. Critical consideration of the role played by different stakeholders in promoting technology-based learning innovations and their social, political and commercial implications.

3. Creative exploration of the potential of technology-based innovations to meet the curriculum / school-reform agenda.

IntroductionIn these two linked sessions, we will consider a number of educational approaches that are based on technology-based innovations. We will reflect on what we mean by innovations through technologies.

We will begin by reviewing the development of learning technologies from a historical and social perspective and move on to look at the role played by national and international organisations (e.g., UNESCO, World Bank, European Commission) in promoting technology-based learning innovations.

A number of initiatives and approaches that we will be looking at include Open Educational Resources (OERs), Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), distance learning initiatives, learning in 3-D virtual words and through computer games.

These initiatives will be examined to understand the extent to which these help or hinder the access to learning opportunities for marginalised groups and communities, the pedagogical principles underpinning these approaches, and how we might apply some of these approaches to fulfil the learning / curriculum reform objectives that you are interested in your own context.

Innovation?

What does it mean?

How do we know something (some approach to education) is an innovation?

How do we know that we are talking about an innovation and not something else?

Group activity 1 [ 15 minutes]

• Work in groups of 3 – 4• Think about an ‘innovation’ in any area of

social life, work, technology (not necessarily in education)

• Justify why you consider it an ‘innovation’. What do you think are the characteristics of an innovation?

• Share your ideas with the rest of the class.

Responses from the classNew ideas. In China. Educational reform, quality education, new curriculum reform. ‘no exams’. Other forms of assessment. different from the past. New. Impact.

Pedagogical change. How lessons are presented. Distance learning. In China. Less attention on exams, focus on learning. Change of assessment. innovation include … can we consider change in educational methods as innovation?

Innovation is change peoples social life, make easier to create new work spaces, new demands, new requirements, challenges for humanity. Technology: computers is one. Internet. Big companies change work space behaviour, entertainment space at work, gym, including leisure activities, new ways to think human resource management,.

Language innovation – dialects accents communication easier. Example. 12 yr education system. Previously 10 yr, 11 yrs. Lengthening compulsory education.

Bring something into existence, something that didn’t exisit before. Green schools in Indonesia, hole-in-the-wall project in India, Khan Academy. Natural resources. People from other countries come to learn. Created for communities in Bali. Classroom made from bamboo.

Characteristics of innovations

Reading activity:

Rogers (2003, pp. 12 – 16) [first edition 1995].

From ‘Invention’ to ‘Innovation’Senge, P. (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation.

[The following text is from http://www.amazon.fr/The-Fifth-Discipline-Practice-Organization/dp/0385517254]

INVENTIONIn December 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright proved that powered flight was possible. Thus was the airplane invented; but it would take more than thirty years before commercial aviation could serve the general public.

INNOVATIONReplicable at practical costs. And reliable.

An idea moves from an invention to an innovation when ‘diverse “component technologies” come together.’ Emerging from isolated developments in separate fields of research, these components gradually form an ensemble of technologies that are critical to one another’s success. Until this ensemble forms, the idea, though possible in the laboratory, does not achieve its potential in practice.

The DC-3, for the first time, brought together five critical component technologies that formed a successful ensemble.

They were: the variable-pitch propeller, retractable landing gear, a type of lightweight molded body construction called “monocque,” a radial air-cooled engine, and wing flaps. To succeed, the DC3 needed all five; four were not enough.

Barriers to innovation?

• The QWERTY phenomenon. Papert, 1993, p. 32 – 33; 187.

Other? [responses from the class]• school management• Government policy• Not familiar with the idea• Mind-set• Finances• Traditional social, cultural factors

Technology-based learning innovations

What are they?

How do we characterise those as innovations?

What are the criteria?

Group activity 2 [20 minutes]

Selwyn (2010, p. 3-4) on the visit to a local primary school.

Imagine if you were part of the group that visited this school. What might be your top 3 take-away lessons from (by reading Selwyn’s description of) this visit?

[To be continued …][Session 10, 4th Feb 2014]

References and further readingEdirisingha, P. (2013) The Role of Technology in Education [available as an iBook and a PDF file from theBlackboard site for Contemporary Issues module].

John, P., and Wheeler, S. (2008) The Digital Classroom: Harnessing Technology for the Future of Learning andTeaching. London: Routledge.

OEDC (2007) Giving Knowledge for Free: The Emergence of Open Educational Resources. http://www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/givingknowledgeforfreetheemergenceofopeneducationalresources.htm, [Accessed 06.12.2013].

Papert, S. (1993). Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas. New York (NY): Basic Books.

Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations (5th Ed). London: Free Press.

Salmon, G., and Edirisingha, P. (2008) Podcasting for Learning in Universities. Maidenhead: Open UniversityPress and SRHE.

Selwyn, N. (2013). Education in a Digital World: Global Perspectives on Technology and Education. London: Routledge.

Selwyn, N. (2011). Schools and Schooling in the Digital Age: A critical analysis. London: Routledge.

Senge, P. (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation. Random House.

The Hewlett Foundation (2013) Open Educational Resources: Breaking the Lockbox on Education [A WhitePaper].http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/open-educational-resources-breaking-lockbox-education[Accessed on 06.12.2013].

Younie, S., and Leask, M. (2013) Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide. Maidenhead, Open University Press.

Thank you!

hope you have enjoyed the class

If you have any questions or suggestions to improve /

contribute to this session / presentation, please contact me

at:

pe27@le.ac.uk

@palithaed

+44 (0)116 252 3753

+44 (0)7525 246 592