Disruptive Innovations

Today I responded to a post on a forum that described technologies as "disruptive innovations". Here is the response that I posted:

" believe that technology has the potential to change communication patterns in the classroom. Traditionally, communication patterns in the classroom have been mostly linear. Teacher lectures to students. Teacher asks question, student raises hand, is called on and gives answer.

In some of my consulting work I have seen that over time technology can change these practices. For example, some classes are starting to use Moodle an online course management system. The use of Moodle is not replacing face to face instruction it is extending the learning beyond the classroom. Students are assigned discussion boards to respond to questions. So instead of a classroom where only a few people can respond to teacher questions everyone can and rich asynchronous discussions can occur.

These types of learning opportunities also "flatten" a classroom. What I mean by that is they make teachers and students co-learners, instead of teachers always playing the role of the expert.

Usually changes like the ones above are evolutionary, meaning that they do not happen overnight. Also they challenge teacher identities. I think sometimes new technologies are looked at as disruptive innovations because they are getting in the way of traditional teaching methods. In order to fully utilize these tools teaching practices need to evolve to more constructivist forms of teaching that encourage higher order thinking."