Disrupt and Blend
As educators, we often say that we do not want our students to disrupt the class. However, as educators, WE should disrupt the class. Disruptive innovation, in its simplest terms, is something that changes the game. According to Horn and Staker (2015), the quality of disruptive innovations “centers on a benefit such as affordability, convenience, accessibility, or simplicity” (p. 3). In the field of education, online learning is a disruptive innovation because it changed the game and continues to do so. The factory-based, fully brick and mortar model of schooling proves to be ineffective in today’s world because it does not create student-centered learning based on personalized learning and competency-based learning, which are needed in the classroom because “each child has different learning needs at different times” (p. 7). Disruptive innovation in education, specifically online learning being used in blended learning, has the ability to create 21st century learners in which each learner’s unique needs are met.
In my organization, I am already seeing online learning being a catalyst for change. This year, numerous teachers throughout the district have been given Chromebook carts and training opportunities to successfully implement the technology in their classrooms. We have been using numerous online websites and applications such as Google Classroom and the entire GAFE suite, Accelerated Reader, STAR testing, First in Math, Read Theory, etc on top of some of the instructional technology we already had (Promethean Boards, document cameras). These uses have been successful, but they have not been impactful on a deep level. This is technology-rich instruction, which is different from blended learning. According to Horn and Staker (2015), blended learning “is a formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online learning with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace and at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home” (p. 54). Technology is about the implementation and integration; it cannot be used for the sake of using it. We tend to overemphasize the technology aspect because that is the new, interesting component that makes the model possible, but blended learning is about the learning.
With this in mind, knowing my organization (K-5 elementary school in western Pennsylvania) and knowing our available technology (Chromebooks, iPads, robotics, Promethean Board, document camera), I could see the rotation model working. The rotation model has four different sub-models, but the main component is an element of online learning. Horn and Staker (2015) state that there is a combination of learning modalities which mostly take place at school and could involve group projects, tutoring, paper assignments, small-group instruction, and whole-class instruction, but the constant is an element of online learning (p. 55). My school has a standard schedule of math, ELA, specials, lunch/recess, science, and social studies. However, we do have a reinforcement and enrichment period, and that is where I can see disruptive innovation having the greatest impact. I, as well as other teachers, tend to use that 45-minute period to give my students tech time, but it has more potential than just logging onto First in Math and playing games to sharpen math skills. I am ready to disrupt and blend.
References
Horn, M. B., & Staker, H. (2015). Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
