In unit two of my LRNT 524 course, we are discussing and reading about innovation and how it affects the way people learn from and with technology. In a Collaborate session with my instructor this week, eight different definitions of innovation were shared. Some common threads throughout those definitions are that innovation should be relevant, new, useful, and value adding (Carter, 2019). Dron (2014) discusses how innovation has and will continue to affect changes in distance learning. He highlights how changes have come about in the past and what may come about in the future. When speaking of the future he predicts “The merging of physical and virtual spaces through ubiquitous computing, where devices are embedded in our surroundings in ever-greater densities, from shirt buttons to furniture, from intelligent cloth to smart dust, will open vistas of opportunity and threat” (Dron, 2014, p.260). This has got me wondering in distance education in the near future, or even more specifically in the MALAT program at Royal Roads University, what innovation might we see next and will the benefits outweigh the threats?

 

References:

Carter, D. (2019, December 11). Collaborate Ultra class Recording_37 . Retrieved from
https://ca.bbcollab.com/collab/ui/session/playback/load/5dfbe3c6a5b2453b8537feaf5df78990

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.