Education 2.0 & 3.0

I had thought we’d seen the back of the whole disruption nonsense. Audrey Watters exposed it as a myth ages ago, I’ve written about how it influenced the whole MOOC narrative, and even Forbes don’t like it. So it was with a weary sigh that I noticed Richard Branson had organised an event called “Disruptors -The Future of Education: Does the Current Model Make the Grade?“. This featured the Khan Academy, Pearson and Teach For All.

I didn’t watch any of the event, maybe there were some very interesting presentations. But by labelling it Disruptors, the intention is made clear. Disruption, as set out by Christensen, is in fact very rare. I think it only actually applies about 1% of the time that term is claimed. But Christensen wouldn’t get rich by talking about a rare occurrence so has pushed the idea that it happens everywhere. The replacement of analogue photography by digital is the classic example. That really was disruption and swept away a whole industry. When it does happen, the thing about disruption is that it is absolutely brutal. A whole industry is replaced by a new one. This is not making improvements (that is the sustaining technology), it is completely destroying a sector and replacing it with a new one. It is an extinction event.

If you are claiming disruption then, you believe the following three things:

1. A complete, systemic change will overtake the sector
2. The current incumbents will not survive
3. The current incumbents are incapable of dealing with the new world, which will be populated by new entrants.

This is what disruption means. If you don’t believe this, then it’s not disruption. It may be technology innovation, it may be new hybrid models, but it’s not disruption. Now look at that list and ask yourself if we want that for education? It would mean the closure of schools, thousands of teachers redundant, and education run by new providers. Maybe it will be a better system, but that is a hell of a lot of, well, disruption.

Via Julie Tardy, Miloš Bajčetić

What happens when the size of the student body isn’t confined by the size of lecture halls?

Via Peter Mellow, Miloš Bajčetić