Personal Blogs

Consider each of the questions below and log your reflections in your learning journal/blog.

On the basis of your own experience:

·      Do you sense that your innovations (as supporters of learning) have been valued, encouraged, supported?

I have this sense of being valued, encouraged and supported in some contexts (mostly commercial) but not in others (mostly non-profit). What is happening is probably  that the for profit organizations are more akin to see innovations in education (or, for that matter, in any subject) as opportunities and new fields of entrepreneurship. I assume these organizations do realise and recognise that what I call an innovation may not be; a) a real innovation, but rather a variation of what others have been doing, and b) even if it is, it may not prove to be applicable on a larger scale, sustainable or profitable. But these are pretty much inherent in the concept of entrepreneurship, there will be risks.

Non-profits (be them public medical schools or private non-profit foundations) on the other hand, when confronted with the same situation are far more reluctant to take these risks. Further, it may not only be a matter of taking risks but rather a resistance to adapt to a new culture, which may be active or passive.

·      What evidence do you have to support your view?

Petersen (2014) argues that for educational entrepreneurs, innovation yields higher returns based on the examples of 3 entrepreneurs who have succeed in establishing innovative start-ups and managed to grow them to extents of being taken over by larger companies, yielding large profits. This is not the very concept that we are discussing here, but still, this may be a major motivation for innovation.

On the other side of the spectrum, Bateman and Davies (2014) issue a warning on the unpredictability of the development of computer-based learning technologies whereas Eva and Anderson (2011) on the uncertainties of the innovativeness of innovative educational ideas/projects.

A personal example may be the implementation of a Problem Based Learning (PBL) system in the public medical school in which I was faculty some 15 years ago. The concept was brought into the attention of the faculty pool by the Dean and was broadly discussed in circles of volunteers before implementation. When it was suddenly started at the beginning of an educational year though, it was seen that:

1.     Educational background of the faculty pool was not at the level required for PBL,

2.     Commitment from the faculty pool was virtually non-existent, as they had not been presented with any incentive to buy in,

3.     Most interestingly, there was a totally unexpected resistance from the student body the majority of whom had clearly stated that this system was way too demanding for them and they would rather go back to the lecturing format.

As far as I know, this school still claims to provide a curriculum based on PBL but in reality it has been converted back to ‘lecturing in small groups’ due to the passive resistance from the faculty and students alike.

 

From the perspective of your context:

·      How widespread is innovation in your organisation?

At the present time, I work with several NGOs (academic societies, foundations, some medical product companies) which have developed and pursue individual educational programs, as faculty member and/or as a committee member. Based on this, I can say that, as a concept, all these organisations are in full support of innovation in education. We sometimes spend days discussing how to develop and implement innovative methods and technologies. The result? We are yet to see any real innovations (such as and specifically, OER) being adapted.

·      Are there policies or statements that relate to innovation? If yes, how are they implemented?

I am not aware of any official policies in this regard.

·      What implications, if any, does this have for your attitude towards innovation?

I have to say that this reluctance actually increases my appetite for developing and using innovative technologies. In fact, I have recently partnered with a fellow surgeon to start a company that would develop software infrastructure for educational organisations (which I have listed above) in their efforts to convert to new educational methods and technologies. I remain to be optimistic, in a sense.

 

 

References:

 

Bateman J and Davies D, (2014) The challenge of disruptive innovation in learning

Technology. Medical Education 48, 258-33

 

Eva KW, and Anderson MB (2011) Lessons learned through innovation in medical

Education. Medical Education 45, 434-5

 

 

Petersen JL, (2014). For education entrepreneurs, innovation yields high returns. Education Next, Spring 2014, 9-16. Available at: www.educationnext.org, Accessed on: Feb 14, 2018