I was ill all last week (SUX!) and, while I was still reading as much as possible, I had a hard time writing my normal posts. I definitely don’t want to lost momentum on this blog, so this week, I’m going to try something new (for me) and take the Seth Godin approach to blogging by having a short post every day! Today’s topic: Innovation?
A coworker sent out this blog post to our shared email list: https://timklapdor.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/innovation-and-the-novelty-factory/ I spent this morning discussing it with several colleagues. While the definitions given in the post are very fuzzy (where would you place the lightbulb, computers, or Uber/AirBNB on this continuum?) I think the upshot of the piece is that words like “innovation,” “transformative,” and “disruption” have become empty, sexy buzzwords for a lot of edTech (and instructional design) because many of the approaches we like to think of as “innovative” are either not new at all and/or are merely novel, or new again. And while there is nothing inherently wrong with trying different things, approaches and technologies can often be pushed instead of taking the difficult road to analyzing current approaches and frameworks and instigating real change, where necessary. What do you think? Do you see real innovation happening in L&D and ID? What does real innovation look like?