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  • High Risk / High Return

    By Joshua Kim September 22, 2009 8:38 pm EDT

    If the MacArthur Genius Program gave awards to institutions I'd be that Abilene Christian University would be a shoo-in. The university's mobile initiative demonstrates that small places can lead in terms of innovation. Learning technology is one place where any college or university that is willing to take risks, and share their experiences, can make a huge splash in the world of learning, teaching and technology.

    In reading about Abilene Christian University I most wonder about how the culture on the campus supports innovation. How many schools have a "director of educational innovation" such as ACU? And what occurred on campus that spurred the creation of this position?

    Yes, the work on mobile platforms is interesting. But the real story is organizational, structural, and cultural. Can the spirit of innovation, sharing, openness, and risk taking demonstrated by ACU be transplanted to other institutions? What is special about the campus set-up, organization, and leadership?

    Do we have some sort of clearinghouse that keeps track of high risk, high return learning technology projects? A place where project documents and materials can be shared, and a community built around the practice rather then the tools. Perhaps a system where the community could rate projects and predict their likelihood of success. And where people trying to get high risk / high return learning technology projects off the ground could solicit advice, feedback, and support.

    With our tradition of openness and sharing in higher ed. combined with the Web as a platform for community building and sharing it seems like we have all the ingredients for a site such as this. The Learning Technology High Risk / High Return community. Any ideas about how to get something like this off the ground? Who could sponsor this site? Who would maintain the energy and momentum in guiding this community? How can we make this happen?

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Comments on High Risk / High Return

  • Posted by Deborah on September 23, 2009 at 7:45am EDT

  • I think that scale is probably a big part of the equation. Many large universities are top heavy in administrators who are not interested in innovation unless it bolsters their individual careers which are often based on maintaining the status quo. There are often innovative people who work below the radar, give up or are even considered threats to the system. Universities are not necessarily different to other institutions in terms of there organization, structure and culture--nothing and no place is inherently progressive! Notice that even Abilene has to resort to a "director" of educational innovation! Isn't directing innovation an oxymoron? In my opinion, it would be innovative to give up naming more directors and split those salaries between groups of people who actually get things done.

    http://www.learn.colostate.edu

  • Innovation, Critical Value - and mobility is nothing new
  • Posted by Michelle Pacansky-Brock , Dir, Online and Hybrid Support at CSU East Bay on September 25, 2009 at 12:15pm EDT

  • Hi Joshua,

    Your post echoes the thoughts of a post I made on my own blog back in April after seeing the crew from Abilene Christian present at MoblEd in Pasadena, CA. In my post I also asked, "how many public colleges and universities have a Director of Educational Innovation on staff?"

    I believe, especially in the 21st century, that innovation needs to valued as an essential college asset. Our students are gravitating towards universities who are picking up on this essential trend. This past year, US News and World Reports added a "Most Innovative" category to their list of coveted colleges and universities which, we all know, students purchase in hoards each spring.

    I am terribly concerned about the gap between innovative trends in private universities and public universities which are seeing painful budget cuts. Here in California, where I am, we are coping with furloughs and intense student fee increases, as I realize many other states are too. While I frequently hear the rhetorical, "we need to be innovative and do things differently," it's rare that this equates innovation in the classroom where the students benefit the most. And, the fact of the matter is, that innovation in the classroom today can be the most cost effective way to make changes in higher ed. By encouraging faculty to explore web 2.0 tools, often free or inexpensive, and taking risks with the encouragement of failure -- yes, I said encouragement of failure -- we'd be shifting the paradigm of education and beginning to ask new questions. This type of paradigm shift only occurs when innovation is integrated as a core value into a culture of an institution.

    There's much to work through and I do agree that Abilene Christian is doing some incredible work! I invite anyone who may be interested to read my related blog post at the link below, "Learning has always been mobile...right?"
    http://mpbreflections.blogspot.com/2009/04/mobled-09-learning-has-always-been.html

    Michelle Pacansky-Brock
    http://mpbreflections.blogspot.com

  • Innovation Website
  • Posted by John Orlando , Learning Innovation Director at Norwich University on October 3, 2009 at 5:30pm EDT

  • I think that a learning innovation wiki would be a good place to post this sort of information. Our Learning Innovation Team has an internal wiki where we post information. Is there any grant money available to fund a public website? If so, we might be able to set it up.

    John
    jorlando@norwich.edu
    Norwich University

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