I remember in middle school attending computer class in a computer lab. One of the programs I learned was an early Paint program, found here. I remember creating my own orange color and using it to make Hardee’s logo. It was a highly pixelated, low level of creation, but I made it myself and I was proud. I also spent a lot of time learning to type on computers in high school. The “same skills we’d always needed” were applied to computing. This was all prior to the internet. Computer classes were separate from classrooms, so learning about computers was about learning to use a computer… and nothing else. Computers were the innovation.
New rules and a different game
The rules for innovation have shifted. In his TED Talk Want to Innovate? Become a “now-ist,” Joi Ito states, “In this completely unpredictable world, the survivors were working with a different set of principles. Bottom-up innovation that is Democratic, chaotic, and hard to control, and the traditional rules don’t work anymore.” (2014) No matter what the innovation is, it no longer happens in a vacuum. Ideas are tested, iterated, and improved upon without permission and before they are fully formed. Innovation is more like intentional play with a general idea. It is no longer the serious work with a clear path that it used to be. This rings true in the classroom as well. Our students are the innovators – they don’t need teachers to obtain access to information. They need a device and access to the internet.
What is the educator’s role then?
How might innovation look in education? In her TED Talk Blended Learning and The Future of Education, Monique Markoff challenges teachers and the educational system to provide one-to-one teacher-to-student personalized learning environments where computers are but a learning tool. In this environment, students are learning from computers, not about them. Learning about computers happens as a result of course, but it’s not the main focus. We need to stop compartmentalizing student learning and give students the chance to innovate! What if teachers gave students a compass to their learning instead of a map? This looks like students engaging in PBL and an individualized, self-paced curriculum in a blended learning environment. How might this allow students to be the pilots in their own learning journey?
Now is the time
Why are people still delivering content the same old way instead of empowering our students to use devices as learning tools? Like my HS computer class – I was learning how to type because of course, I would use a computer for data entry! That’s not even a necessity now! Not much has changed since then. While COVID pushed schools further than they had ever been, education still relies too heavily on sit-and-get, standardized learning. This is a big reason that I started grad school in the first place. I’m excited to ride the wave of change that COVID forced. Because of this, I get to experiment, innovate, and iterate using my plan for a Paperless Office. This is what innovation looks like. I get to be a part of the future… RIGHT NOW.
References
Ito, J., & TED. (2014, March). Want to innovate? Become a “now-ist”. TED Ideas Worth Spreading. https://www.ted.com/talks/joi_ito_want_to_innovate_become_a_now_ist?language=en
Markoff, M., & TEDxIthacaCollege. (2014, May 6). Blended Learning and the Future of Education. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb2d8E1dZjY