Blog #5

Can I just say that I really appreciate the hopefulness of this book! Like Melissa, I began reading with a somewhat negative, preconceived idea of what I was going to find in Disrupting Class. Thankfully, I have been pleasantly surprised. Instead of trashing teachers or listing the often-heard reasons why schools are failing, Disrupting Class actually talks about how we are doing a pretty good job in spite of our system. How refreshing!

I have been thinking a lot about disruptive innovations this week, and how success with disruptive innovations originates at the simplest end of the market. The book has given some really interesting and memorable examples of these innovations.

One example that I have been thinking about a lot is the personal computer. It brought me back to my elementary school days when we waited in eager anticipation each week to play Number Munchers and Oregon Trail on the Apple II computers. Looking back, these machines were very basic but we thought they were so awesome. (Incidentally, my husband now has the Oregon Trail application on his iPhone and it’s been funny to think back and remember how bad the graphics must have been on those old Apple II computers in comparison). It’s strange to me that these machines with the black screens and green glowing text were actually disruptive innovations.

Another illustration that I really found memorable was the phonograph example. Just as it would be ridiculous to wheel out a phonograph onto the stage of Carnage Hall in place of a live performance, it also doesn’t work to pit disruptive innovations against head-on competition. In the same respect, playing video of a great educator teaching a math lesson would make no sense if played in a traditional math classroom, but might have a place in an online setting for a homebound student.

As I have been reading the book’s ideas of how the future classroom will look, I become uneasy (and I’m sure I’m not the only one). I am beginning to understand why change doesn’t happen easily in schools – in the end I think we all want things to stay the same, if only because of our desire for self-preservation. I mean, don’t we all want to keep our jobs as they are?

I am trying to envision how my job would work as an online teacher, and it’s pretty unsettling. So much of what I do in my job, so much of what I think is important, has to do with building relationships and social skills. Children in my classes learn about eighth notes and rondo form and lines and spaces on a staff, yes. But during all the music games we play, a lot of what I am teaching revolves around communicating with and working well with others. I think Jan would probably agree that a lot of what we do in elementary school – in music, math, science, whatever – does have a great deal to do with how students interact with one another. If and when their predicted ‘flip’ happens in education, and online learning becomes more prevalent than in-school learning – well, I shudder at the thought of how and where students will be developing some of those skills.