When I first started considering innovation, I wrote my initial thought down in my notes.
Through some editing, I came to innovation being a change in processing, physically and/or intellectually, that allows a different approach, or a different positive outcome to a current situation.
With this definition I can divide innovation into two categories.
The first type of innovation is the way that a problem is approached intellectually, maybe with a different mindset, or with an out-of-the-box thinking method. This idea was further stimulated while reading Goldman et al’s (2012) article and their discussion on mindshifts: “the developmental journey towards mindsets” (p. 29). I originally was only thinking about the mindsets, and not the continuum between them when I considered my own explanation.
The second type of innovation is the physical one, often seen with technologies, allowing to reach a solution in a easier manner. Dron (2014) spoke about how technologies are leading to rapid change and “ [w]hen considering change and innovation in distance education, our focus will, inevitably, be on those technologies, their implementation, invention, meaning, diffusion, and acceptance” (p. 237). This resonated with me as a current DL teacher, as he illustrated everything else that comes with new technology in the classroom. Overall, Dron’s article really spoke to me.
He discusses how we cause change, and then that change ends up changing us. As a teacher, I think about my students and their futures. I am teaching them, potentially changing them, and hopefully facilitating learning, all of which may impact their future. As they become the future policy makers, tax payers, and parents to the next generation, their actions will impact me. As distance education is inevitably impacted with new technologies, I am curious to see what innovations will come out of them.
Looking back on my initial description of innovation, I am happy with it. However, I am left wondering if innovations have to have a positive outcome or be a benefit? Can you have an innovation, but still fail due to integration and acceptance as discussed by Dron? Let me know what you think.
References
Dron, J. (2014). Innovation and Change: Changing how we Change. In Zawacki-Richter, O. & T. Anderson (Eds.), Online distance education: Towards a research agenda. Athabasca, AB: AU Press.
Goldman, S. et al. (2012). . In H. Plattner, C. Meinel & L. Leifer (eds). Design thinking research: Understanding innovation. (pp. 13-33). Berlin: Springer.