Professor at Harvard Business School named Clayton M Christensen introduced the theory of disruptive innovation in 1995 in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) and in his book “The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fall” in 1997. According to Christensen disruptive innovation is not a breakthrough in innovation (Awati & Pratt, 2023; King & Baatartogtokh, 2015). It is a transformation of an expensive and complicated product that was only accessible to certain people who are rich and have the needed skill set to a less expensive and accessible to many (Harvard Business Review, 2012). For example, earlier mainframe computers were so expensive, and even established universities had one mainframe computer in their universities but now it has gone through a process of mainframe computers to minicomputers to desktops to laptops to smartphones.
One prominent example that any in the business world uses in explaining disruptive innovation is Amazon. The significance of Amazon is that they completely restructured the industry of books by making books available for online purchasing and with the introduction of Kindle it was taken into a new direction by reaching out to a vast range of audiences who may or may not have been Amazon users.
The idea of having a connection between disruptive innovation and education may not seem possible initially but when one connects the dots it is easier to understand. Mainly disruptive innovation is a change from a normalized process that challenges the existing norms to suit changes over time (Washington, 2019). Disruptive innovations intend to change the school system positively by including the students in the learning process by identifying proactive approaches. This idea was understood through the simple idea of how learning management systems (LMS) were integrated into teaching and learning. Initially, teachers used direct instructions in a traditional classroom. However, the incorporation of an LMS made learning different and it was able to reach many learners. Another interesting disruptive innovation in education can be the creation of personalized learning programs and making them available freely for learners. The Khan Academy, Sylvan Learning Centre, Udemy, and Coursera are such examples that started small but have become global sensations in the field of education due to their availability of options.
When looking at the emergence of disruptive innovation that suit the field of education, it is evident that many learners irrespective of the age range are being drawn to learning. Disruptive technologies have broadened the accessibility to educational opportunities for multiple learners. For example, an adult now can complete his studies while employed full-time in a workplace.
In my opinion, disruptive educational technologies give learners a choice rather than an order. So the students are open to multiple methods of learning leading to the availability of multiple ways of assessing as well.
However, as an educator, one needs to be cautious about the incorporation of disruptive innovations in one’s classroom. Depending on the level of the learners of your audience and their age of them the teacher needs to choose wisely and should crosscheck with the relevant authorities prior to the utilization of such technologies in the class as parents, guardians or even the school principal or the school rules and regulation might oppose your idea. But the most interesting concept I came across on disruptive innovation in education is the recommendation of the Christensen Institute. Accordingly, the institute has suggested that school leaders reflect on the effective strategies they integrated during the COVID-19 pandemic; 2020-2021, and build off them (Southern Illinois University, 2022). They also pointed out that the adoption of hybrid methods, blended learning models, and learning management systems would help to increase accessibility and improve student learning.
The most striking personal experience in understanding disruptive innovation is understanding the theory of disruptive innovation. Mainly, because I understand it through the existing examples gathering the data and facts, but the theory is simply looking into the future. Hence, in creating such innovation one simply has to look through the lens of the theory into the future as there are no facts existing.
Reference
Awati, R., & Pratt, M. K. (2023, July). What is disruptive innovation? – Definition from WhatIs.com. SearchCIO. https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/definition/disruptive-innovation
Harvard Business Review. (2012, March 30). Disruptive Innovation Explained. YouTube. https://youtu.be/qDrMAzCHFUU
King, A. A., & Baatartogtokh, B. (2015, September 15). How Useful Is the Theory of Disruptive Innovation? MIT Sloan Management Review. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-useful-is-the-theory-of-disruptive-innovation/
Southern Illinois University. (2022, February 22). How Principals Can Embrace Disruptive Innovation As a Real-World Education Model. SIUE. https://online.siue.edu/degrees/education/msed/principal-preparation/disruptive-innovation-education-model/
Washington, B. (2019, November 22). Disruptive Innovation in Education. TeachHUB. https://www.teachhub.com/classroom-management/2019/11/disruptive-innovation-in-education/