H807-1. Initial thoughts on innovation

Technological innovation is certainly a relative concept; local context must always be taken into consideration. Availability and accessibility of technology vary widely, as do student needs and their willingness to try something new, as well as the overall climate of the educational organisation (to mention only a few of the contributing factors). My general impression at the moment is that 'true' innovation comes about as a result of the initiative of individual educators, or perhaps small groups - that is, it is essentially a bottom-up process. I think this is also in accord with the democratic nature of technology, particularly Web 2.0 social networking tools.

Some points from the readings worth noting:

1) Lück and Laurence (accessed 12 February 2010): Innovative teaching: sharing expertise through videoconferencing

This paper reports on the selective use of videoconferencing on a university tourism course to enable interaction between students and guest lecturers from around the world.

The success of the 'innovation' seems to be due to the following:
-videoconferencing took place once per semester, making it a 'special event' and a memorable occasion, and thereby creating expectation and motivation on the part of the students
-it was carefully integrated into the syllabus
-it supplemented face-to-face contact
-it was carefully planned and supported by IT experts
-careful attention was paid to student feedback, and improvements were made accordingly
-this use of technology represented a significant reduction in travel expenses for guest lecturers, and mitigated the loss of productivity that results when lecturers temporarily leave their posts

Random vocabulary item
packet loss: occurs when the picture freezes but the sound remains stable

2) Rich and Holtham (2005): New technology in learning: a decade's experience in a business school

There were a few quotes that resonated with me here:

-"The new approaches remained the preserve of a small group of faculty" (p. 677)
This seems to hint at the bottom-up approach I mentioned earlier, and reflects my own experience of using technology in the classroom; most teachers are unwilling to get involved, whether because of the workload or lack of confidence in their own skills.

-"They [the technological efforts] were not universally appreciated by students" (p. 677)
I just love the understatement here; I would have put it much differently. Just mention technology in the classroom and some students practically retch in front of you - even 19-year-olds, who are often presumed to be so tech-savvy.

-"there may be benefits with persevering with innovative approaches even in the face of initial resistance from students" (p. 679)
Yes, yes and yes. Just imagine if I had given up on blogging after my first two attempts; I never would have had the rich experience of last semester. I firmly believe that students have to at least try something, make a sincere effort, before they decide they 'hate' it.