Anyone Can Innovate. Will You?
Innovation. It has become one of the most used terms in terms of educational technology. Implementing the new system will provide innovative new pathways for learning. Using this pedagogical method will give teachers the ability to innovate in their classrooms. Getting a particular device will allow students to be more innovative in their learning. Does innovation really come from following a given formula of systems, pedagogy, and devices, or is there room to adjust to how learning progresses in the classroom?
One way to think about the classroom environment is like a kitchen. The basic tools that you need to either bake or cook are present in every kitchen, but the two processes are very different. When baking, following the recipe exactly is the key to a successful dish. There is more science than art, as the instructions in the recipe are crucial for its success. When cooking, there is room for substitution and improvisation in recipe and methodology. More art than science, cooking follows the flow of what is going on in the moment and requires constant adjustment and adaptation. In either case, you can get a result that is either edible or inedible, based on the variations introduced by the chef. Variations introduced in baking tend to be less forgiving than cooking, but It is those variations that become the innovations in the dishes prepared.
Whenever I think about cooking, I always reflect back on the 2007 animated film Ratatouille, about the trials and tribulations of someone who wants to become a chef. Without giving too many spoilers, one of the themes throughout the film is that anyone can cook. There are many opportunities to see the conflict between the baking methodology of following a recipe to its exact result, and the cooking methodology of being able to improvise along general rules to obtain the desired dish. In the end, there is a great monologue that summarizes what I think is the essence of cooking, as well as innovation in educational technology. Anyone can take the tools off the shelf and get a reasonable result, be it a recipe or lesson plan. But those who are willing to adapt and improvise and make changes, and the ones who truly become innovative.
The integration of educational technology into the classroom tends to fall into similar groupings, those who follow an exact formula to get a result, and those who follow general guidelines and rules to get to a result. Innovation via educational technology has its rules, like all types of cooking and baking. Certain processes and procedures will mess everything up no matter how careful you are, and different pedagogies, frameworks, and methodologies interact in the curriculum in a variety of ways. The systems, services, and devices are designed to work alongside those pedagogies, frameworks, and methodologies. It’s not that these systems, services, or devices can’t be used in an innovative manner. It’s more that in order to be innovative, you have to know what changes need to be made as you are putting it all together in order to get the results you need.
Innovation requires change. It’s not about how complicated the change is, but how that change fits into the way you teach. Like the perfect dish, innovation in the classroom is dependent upon the innovator. They are the experts on the methods, pedagogies, systems, and devices and how they interact with what needs to go on in the classroom in order to learn. It is about adapting all of those in the moment to get to a result that is different from what has been done before. Innovation is possible in every classroom. Are you willing to try?
