Disruptive Technologies in Higher

Education

Michael FlavinKing’s College London

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Christensen (1997)Christensen and Raynor (2003)

‘What all sustaining technologies have in common is

that they improve the performance of established

products... Disruptive technologies bring to market a

very different value proposition than had been available

previously... Products based on disruptive technologies

are typically cheaper, simpler, smaller, and,

frequently, more convenient to use’ (1997, p. xv,

emphasis added).

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Honda in the USA (Christensen, 1997)

(c) Design Council Slide Collection

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The transistor radio (Christensen and Raynor, 2003)

(c) Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (c)The Design Council/Manchester Metropolitan University

Activity Theory and Expansive Learning (Engestrom, 1987)

Engestrom on tools within an activity system‘A tool always implies more possible uses than the original operations that

have given birth to it’ (1987).

‘… the material form and shape of the artifact [tool] have only limited power

to determine its epistemic use’ (2007, pp. 34-35).

‘In Expansive learning… reconfiguration of given technologies by their

users is essential’ (2007, p. 35).

Wikipedia

‘The biggest advantage of Wikipedia is that the answers are at your

finger tips, you can ask a question and the answer appears without

the need for flicking from chapter to chapter in a book.’

Remember Christensen? Cheaper, simpler, smaller, more

convenient.

March 2012 – Encyclopaedia Britannica announces it will no longer

produce a print version.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/13/encyclopedia-britannica-halts-print-publication

How many technologies are users using?

‘Adding too many technologies to support

teaching/learning, especially where one or

two can do the job well, can overwhelm

the student (and the educator!).’

Observation studies

For students – You have been asked to write an essay for assessment at a

H.E. Institution, concerning the issue of widening participation in H.E..

Identify, gather and store relevant information for this essay, using only the

computer in front of you. Do this for fifteen minutes.

For tutors – You have been asked to prepare a class on emergent forms of

assessment in H.E. Identify, gather and store learning and teaching

materials for this purpose, using only the computer in front of you. Do this

for fifteen minutes.

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Conclusion

No evidence of a wide range of

technologies being used to

support learning.

Small range of technologies for

wide range of tasks.

Preferred technology brands

(practice does not occur in a

vacuum).

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Implications

The strategic development of

library services.

The role of the H.E.I. as

gatekeeper.

Michael.flavin@kcl.ac.uk

http://idcharred.wordpress.com

https://twitter.com/ou_michael

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/michael-flavin /15/376/b20

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ReferencesChristensen, C. M. (1997) The innovator’s dilemma: when new technologies cause

great firms to fail, Boston, Mass., Harvard Business School Press.

Christensen, C. M. and Raynor, M. E. (2003) The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and

Sustaining Successful Growth, Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press.

Engeström, Y. (1987) Learning by expanding: an activity-theoretical approach to

developmental research, Helsinki, Orienta-Konsultit Oy.

http://lchc.ucsd.edu/MCA/Paper/Engestrom/expanding/toc.htm (accessed 5

September 2012).

Engeström, Y. (2007). Enriching the Theory of Expansive Learning: Lessons From

Journeys Toward Coconfiguration, Mind, Culture and Activity, 14 (1-2), 23-39.

Markides, C. (2006). Disruptive Innovation: In need of Better Theory, The Journal of

Product Innovation Management, 23 (1), 19-25.

Thank you, and here’s a questionnaire!

https://www.survey.bris.ac.uk/kcl/techsurvey