According to the Christensen Institute, “disruptive innovations are not breakthrough technologies that make good products better; rather they are innovations that make products and services more accessible and affordable, thereby making them available to a much larger population.” From my perspective, the disruptive innovation theory is not about improving what is already existing but about creating something that is completely new and does not have competition, solving a currently unknown need and generating a new market.
Under this perspective, I see disruptive innovation in education in three ways:
First, as an “evolving power” that will promote changes in the organization that will level the educational ground and benefits those students that do not have access to quality education. In this sense, technology is what is making possible a real personalization of learning for every child.
Second, as the door leading to a model of education that will allow for a differentiated instruction in which students will have the ability to move at their own pace, spending less or more time according to their specific needs.
And third, as a creative way to reduce opposition to change since disruptive innovation is many times born in a non-competitive environment where it is not seen as a threat due to its one of a kind nature. Where it can be developed and improved until to the point where it is known, and the transition to the new model is the natural and organic way to grow.
The importance of disruptive innovation resides in its ability to change our currently broken factory education model where every child receives a specific content within a particular timeline want it or not and then moved up to the next stage. Now, the real challenge for us, educators, is to prepare ourselves to actively participate in this necessary change by creating innovation plans that have the power to disrupt the classroom. Personalized learning through content platforms, flipped classrooms, blended learning for just mentioning a few. Let’s become disruptive, so, what is your plan?
Christensen Institute (n.d) Disruptive innovation. Retrieved from https://www.christenseninstitute.org/key-concepts/disruptive-innovation-2/
Arnett, T (2014, January 6). Why disruptive education matters to education. Christensen Institute. Retrieved from https://www.christenseninstitute.org/blog/why-disruptive-innovation-matters-to-education/
