Disrupting Class

How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns

By Christensen, Horn & Johnson (2011)

The book consists of 9 chapters in which the authors discuss how currently the school and learning system is, why and, how they should be. In other words, they offer the answer to: how disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. The authors state, “the current educational system-the way it trains teachers, the way it groups students, the way the curriculum is designed, and the school building is laid out- is designed for standardization”. They also mention if schools are “serious about leaving no child behind”, schools cannot teach their students with standardized methods, schools must attempt to “teach each student in the way his or her brain is wired to learn”. Hence, “schools need a new system if the goal is to educate every student”, they “must find a way to move toward a student-centric”.

“Why schools struggle to teach differently when each student learns differently”, in chapter 1, the authors believe that all know we learn differently “through different methods, with different hooks, and at different paces… so why can’t schools customize their teaching” instead of “standardize the way they teach and the way they test? The authors believe that computer-based learning is “a step on the road toward student-centric technology” which “is the escape hatch from the standardization, opens the door for students to learn in ways that match their intelligence types in the places and at the paces they prefer by combining content in customized sequences”. The teacher role should be “a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage”. All right, but “how can schools make the shift to a student centric classroom”.

 “Making the shift: Schools meet society’s jobs”, in chapter 2, the authors demand schools to do like what most companies do; “companies want to keep improving what they do- and generally they quite good at doing just that, companies typically improve their products at a much faster pace than costumers need”. The authors point out that”society has hired school to perform four distinct jobs: preserve the democracy and include democratic values, provide something for every student, keep America competitive and, eliminate poverty”. They reveal that “although people spent billions of dollars putting computers in schools”, it has resulted in little change in how teachers teach and students learn, schools still not enough motivated to improve. The authors believe that “the disruptive theory provides the framework for school to migrate to a student-centric classroom”.

“Crammed classroom computers”, in chapter 3, the authors refer to Clinton’s four transformative vision for computing in class: “modern computers and devices to all students, classrooms connected to one another and the outside world, making educational software an integral part of the curriculum and as engaging as the best video game and, having teachers ready to use and teach with technology”. They also state that the second two of these visions “are as distant as ever; why haven’t computers brought about a transformation in the schools the way they have in other areas of life”. They believe that to migrate to a student-centric classroom, schools needs to use computers not as a tool or as a topic or as another activity center or for word processing or to search the Internet for research paper or play games but “as a primary instructional mechanism that helps students learn in ways that are customized to their type of intelligence”. The authors strongly believe that schools spent so much money on computers to achieve so little gain; “schools have crammed computers into the existing teaching and classroom model”.

“Disruptively deploying computers”, in chapter 4, the authors state that “the disruptive transitions from teacher-led to software delivered instruction are likely to proceed in two ways: computer-based or online learning and student-centric technology”.

“The system for student-centric learning”, in chapter 5, the authors believe that “in the first stage of disruption, an innovator makes a product much more affordable and simpler to use than what currently exists. “In the second stage, another technological change (modular design) makes it simple and inexpensive to build and upgrade the products”. They also believe that we learn the material much better when we teach it than we’re sitting passively in a classroom listening to someone explain it to us.

“The impact of the earliest years of students’ success”, in chapter 6, the authors state that “98% of education spending occurs after the basic intellectual capacities of children have been mostly determined”. Moreover, some programs “are an ineffective mechanism for addressing the challenge of better preparing children for school”. There are “changes must occur before school starts, during age 0-4” and, money must be spent “where it has maximum impact and not waste it on programs that will fail”.

 “Why so many students seem unmotivated”, in chapter 7, the authors believe that “student-centric learning will play a key role in addressing the challenge of motivation”. And if kids are motivated, excited and engaged to learn and if we make possible for each one to learn effectively, we will have an education system with a great performance record. It is a big challenge that most have not cracked. The authors state that “teachers and parents offer education, but many students are not buying what is being offered”. The reason why students are not motivated to buy “the offer” is that it wasn't yet good enough.

            “Improving education research”, in chapter 8, the authors state that “education is certainly unique and many elements of it will remain an art”. And, “having skillful teachers who use their judgment to understand and relate to students is terribly important”.

“Organizing the Innovate”, in chapter 9, the authors mention that if video games “used for good ends, can teach our children, they can also be used to teach the underlying principles of mathematics or engage students in reading. And what’s more, if done properly, children love playing them. If better learning is the goal, we need “to create the conditions that motivate teachers and students to do whatever it takes to get better results”.

My reaction: I strongly believe if everyone agrees that we learn differently, from my experience that is exactly true, so schools must adopt different ways of teaching since the kids have different ways of learning. Actually, it seems to me unfair to keep asking kids to learn while we use ‘teaching languages’ we know, while kids don’t. The question is how schools use teaching methods while learners need different learning methods; customization instead of standardization in schools is the appropriate solutions, I think so too. The book repeats saying that billions has been spent to crammed technology in education with little effect, thus, schools need to re-allocate their money to be spent on the right project at the right time to be effective and efficient in preparing kids for school, maximize the impact through successful programs and, create a balance between inputs and outputs in schools. Schools must continue to improve what they are doing to meet the learner’s future needs instead of struggle to meet today learner’s needs. Stop trains the teachers for the past is critical, future teachers need to have the skills to do better in the 21^st century learning environment. I also believe that schools must adopt a systemic reform approach which include the whole education paradigm and use the right tools to change; just crammed technologies in education is not adequate to achieve the desired learning outcomes, it explains why new technologies have little impact on education while they have a huge impact on other life activities, why students are not enough motivated and engaged to learn while they have a good motivation to feel successful and make progress and they are engaged to have fun with their friends. Education is a science; it always need to be updated and enriched with latest researches, it is an art; it always needs skills and new practices. Computer-based or online learning and student-centric technology will change the way the world learns.

        The authors of this book use use numbers and they have specific information about the usage of the new technologies in schools and other life activities, while we do not have such kind of information to judge if that is right or not. Sometimes, I feel we are just stuck between two groups; one believes that 21^st century  learning cannot be effective and efficient without utilizing the new technologies  in a transformative way in education and the other group don’t think so and they consider anyone discus the role of  technology as “commercial marketers and sales men”. I believe that many people agree that the role of new technologies in schools is less than its role in business and other life activities. Siegel (2003)mentions “Why haven’t learning technologies delivered to the same degree as technologies in business, science, entertainment, or communications? Will learning technologies ever offer more than convenient access to information or mind-numbing lessons? Perhaps the answer has less to do with the technologies themselves and more to do with how we use the technologies to achieve learning”.

      Individually, I believe that people need to stop talking about how many schools use technology in the classroom, using technology is not the goal. “Technology is not an end in itself. It is merely the highway or the car or the airplane which takes you where you want to go”, McKenzie (1999). The question is how many schools utilize technology in the classroom effectively and efficiently and we can measure the outcome and if it is worth the billions that spent to only cram technologies in education. Leneway (n.d.) states that “Teachers, peers, and technology can all work together to transform classrooms into these creative learning environments… teachers make a classroom great - not the technology placed in the classroom… good teachers have the right tools, training and attitude, the engagement and excitement in the classroom can be transformative - for both the students and the teacher”.

Reference:

1. Christensen, C.,  Horn, M.  & Johnson, C. (2011). Disrupting Class: How disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. New York: Mc Graw-Hill. 
2. Leneway, R. J. ( n.d. ). Transforming K-12 Classrooms with Digital Technology: A Look at What Works! (Draft chapter).
3. McKenzie, J. (1999). How teachers Learn Technology Best. From Now On Press.
4. Siegel, Martin. (2003). Falling Asleep at Your Keyboard: The Case for Computer Imagination. Indiana University.

See these videos: Disruptive Innovation, Christensen
                                            Disrupting class, Horn