Innovation Is Not An Empty Term

And it's essay week! Writing one essay critiquing the dissenting research on video games in formal education (arguing that the majority of arguments are actually critiques of the education system rather than of video games) and the other on a historical comparison of research on informal learning pre- and post-Internet (amazing how much the conversation hasn't changed).

Which means dissertation analysis is in the back seat, so to speak. Yet, I thought I'd share particular point I've been contemplating lately from the research.

Lately I've been examining what's not in responses as to how to conceptualize innovation. And one thing almost all answers are not missing is confidence that innovation is something in particular.

Of all of the scoping respondents - some of the most prominant thinkers and practitioners in U.K. Educational Technology - only one person wholeheartedly answered that he was not sure what innovation is.

“I've been asked lots of times what innovation is and I'm not sure that I know. Not for certain. I'm sure that it means new things, useful things, exciting things? But what is the purpose of innovation? Is it simply to exhibit new, useful and shiny things or is it to see these through to mainstream acceptance and understanding? I suspect that the latter is right but that innovators get bored once mainstream gets ahold and they move on. In that case I'm not really an innovator. I see the point and given the opportunity will try to mainstream that point.”

Every other respondent listed with some level of confidence some conception of what characteristics of innovation are and what are seen as innovative projects.

Worth thinking about. There is a conception out there among individuals of what innovation means when applied to technology programs, what it entails.  It is not an empty term; it has weight in our minds.  However, as results will show, this conception is not universally shared nor definitively defined in the collective mindset (see previous posts).  What does it mean? How is this conception formed if not collectively?

I have a preliminary theory on this last question, but not for today. Just a grain of food for thought.

IF YOU ARE OR YOUR KNOW AN innovative teacher in educational technology, I'd love to hear from you! The more analysis I do, the more crucial I think the teacher's perspectives are.  Fill out the survey at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dENtTTJvN243NHo0enZKU0JsMGlhU0E6MQ#gid=0