On Disruptive Innovation

Disruptive innovation is defined by Christensen as a two-stage process.  In stage one, the innovator makes a product much more affordable and simple to use than what currently exists. In the second stage, additional technological changes in the industry make it simple and affordable to build and upgrade the product.

In his book, disrupting class, Christensen used student centered learning as an example of a disruptive innovation. In the fifth chapter of the book, the author explained that some early applications of student centered learning would take place outside of formal education.  He argued that those applications would be made on an individual basis by teachers, parents, students, and school administrators. These applications would be decentralized and not require "central bodies of authority such as school boards and teachers unions.”   On the contrary, earlier cases will happen in spite of a lack of approval from these bodies.

As Susan shared in her blog, one example of disruption in education within our school district (JCCS) is currently taking place and has to do with blended learning.  I agree with my colleague that it is imperative for our school district to adopt an online learning platform.  Doing so allows JCCS to remain competitive and provide a much-needed coursework option for our students.

Much like Christensen described the early applications as being decentralized and taking place on an individual basis,  we (at the school site level) have experimented with online coursework through community colleges, National University’s Virtual High School.  The results have been mixed.  The virtual high school platform was explored a number of years ago and was not effective for our students.   Last year, a couple of my students took blended lab science courses through the community college and had much better results.   The advantages of having district-wide adoption of blended learning are that we could provide a wider variety of coursework, A-G approved courses, and professional development for our staff to deliver instruction.