Transcript King’s College London

Disruptive Technologies in Higher
Education
Michael Flavin
King’s College London
Christensen (1997)
Christensen and Raynor (2003)
‘What all sustaining technologies have in common is
that they improve the performance of established
products... Disruptive technologies bring to market a
very different value proposition than had been available
previously... Products based on disruptive technologies
are typically cheaper, simpler, smaller, and,
frequently, more convenient to use’ (1997, p. xv,
emphasis added).
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Honda in the USA (Christensen, 1997)
(c) Design Council Slide Collection
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The transistor radio (Christensen and
Raynor, 2003)
(c) Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
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(c)The Design Council/Manchester Metropolitan University
Activity Theory and Expansive
Learning (Engestrom, 1987)
Engestrom on tools within an
activity system
‘A tool always implies more possible uses than the original operations that
have given birth to it’ (1987).
‘… the material form and shape of the artifact [tool] have only limited power
to determine its epistemic use’ (2007, pp. 34-35).
‘In Expansive learning… reconfiguration of given technologies by their
users is essential’ (2007, p. 35).
Wikipedia
‘The biggest advantage of Wikipedia is that the answers are at your
finger tips, you can ask a question and the answer appears without
the need for flicking from chapter to chapter in a book.’
Remember Christensen? Cheaper, simpler, smaller, more
convenient.
March 2012 – Encyclopaedia Britannica announces it will no longer
produce a print version.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/13/encyclopediabritannica-halts-print-publication
How many technologies are
users using?
‘Adding too many technologies to support
teaching/learning, especially where one or
two can do the job well, can overwhelm
the student (and the educator!).’
Observation studies
For students – You have been asked to write an essay for assessment at a
H.E. Institution, concerning the issue of widening participation in H.E..
Identify, gather and store relevant information for this essay, using only the
computer in front of you. Do this for fifteen minutes.
For tutors – You have been asked to prepare a class on emergent forms of
assessment in H.E. Identify, gather and store learning and teaching
materials for this purpose, using only the computer in front of you. Do this
for fifteen minutes.
Conclusion
No evidence of a wide range of
technologies being used to
support learning.
Small range of technologies for
wide range of tasks.
Preferred technology brands
(practice does not occur in a
vacuum).
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Implications
The strategic development of
library services.
The role of the H.E.I. as
gatekeeper.
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[email protected]
http://idcharred.wordpress.com
https://twitter.com/ou_michael
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-flavin /15/376/b20
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References
Christensen, C. M. (1997) The innovator’s dilemma: when new technologies cause
great firms to fail, Boston, Mass., Harvard Business School Press.
Christensen, C. M. and Raynor, M. E. (2003) The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and
Sustaining Successful Growth, Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press.
Engeström, Y. (1987) Learning by expanding: an activity-theoretical approach to
developmental research, Helsinki, Orienta-Konsultit Oy.
http://lchc.ucsd.edu/MCA/Paper/Engestrom/expanding/toc.htm (accessed 5
September 2012).
Engeström, Y. (2007). Enriching the Theory of Expansive Learning: Lessons From
Journeys Toward Coconfiguration, Mind, Culture and Activity, 14 (1-2), 23-39.
Markides, C. (2006). Disruptive Innovation: In need of Better Theory, The Journal of
Product Innovation Management, 23 (1), 19-25.
Thank you, and here’s a
questionnaire!
https://www.survey.bris.ac.uk/kcl/techsurvey