Friday, January 24, 2014

Does Technology Really Make the Innovation Innovative?



In my dissertation companion course I was asked to assist with further defining the term “innovative.” “What does this word really mean, and how might it apply to finding innovative research topics to study?” At first glance, defining the word “innovative” seemed like a “no-brainer.” As I strived however, to complete the assignment and consider my dissertation topic, it has turned into a job for a “big-brainer.” For some reason, technology and the state of being innovative seem to go hand-in hand, but I am questioning whether it really has to go hand-in-hand. 



On my journey toward gaining a better understanding of the term “innovative,” I came across a Disney blog. In the blog, Tom Staggs (2011) conducted an interview with Jeff Kober in discussing the organizations perspective of the term “innovative.” In the interview Kober stated
Just as everyone is responsible for safety, courtesy, show and efficiency, we should always be trying to discover new ways to challenge the status quo, be more efficient, and to surprise and delight our Guests at every turn. We often talk about innovation in terms of technology. But innovation goes beyond technology and should extend to everything we do. Regardless of our roles, each of us has the opportunity to innovate and improve on what we do and how we do it” (par.3).
I know that this source may not be scholarly but from my prospective, it provided a simple yet complex understanding of term “innovative.” Essentially, what I have gleaned from this statement is that being “innovative” is not just results oriented, it is also contextual. Consequently, this could very well mean that what is innovative in one context, may be old news or irrelevant in another context.      
Considering the term “something” which is a component of the Walden definition, I suggest a more specific identification of this term. Utilizing the term “something” from my perspective, naturally leads to a “product” only perspective of being “innovative.” The U.S. Department of Education also discussed innovation in terms of product and processes. I therefore suggest specifically identifying the “something” as a “product, process, or approach” 
Innovative:
  • old product, process, or approach used in a contextually appropriate new way
  • new product, process, or approach used in a contextually appropriate old way
  • new product, process, or approach used in a contextually appropriate new way
My interest is with regard to the pre-service early educator’s emotional intelligence. As I am gaining familiarity with the concept of metacognition especially as it relates to emotional intelligence, my interest leans with that topic as well. My question (for right now anyway) is what difference does a phone call from the online instructor to the online student make as means of formative feedback with regard to the development of metacognitive skills? Many of the community college students I work with take primarily online courses and unfortunately a good portion of those students lack in the necessary emotional and metacognition skills needed in order to be an effective early educator. For some of those students, the only time that the instructor hears their voice is if there is a problem, or at graduation. I wonder if having scheduled instructor initiated phone calls throughout the semester would assist with the development of metacognition skills. 
In terms of my revised definition of “innovative”, this dissertation topic idea would align with an old product, process, or approach used in a contextually appropriate new way
References
Staggs,T. (2011, December 5). Staggs: What does it mean to be innovative? - Disney at work . Retrieved January 4, 2014, from http://disneyatwork.com/2011/12/staggs-what-does-it-mean-to-be-innovative/
U.S. Department of Education. (2004, December 6). What do we mean by "innovation"? Retrieved January 4, 2014, from http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii/about/definition.html

4 comments:

  1. Hi Tracey,

    Depending on the program, I think it is necessary that pre-service teachers to have some kind of interaction with the clients that they are going to be working with. I think we are kidding ourselves if we think we are preparing pre-service teachers with a strictly online curriculum. Emotional intelligence training is a huge component of this and a fantastic topic for a research study. I am curious to what are you hoping to do with this now that you have opened this can of worms? Observations? Interactions?

    Great Blog - Dan

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  2. Hi Tracey:
    I like your D-topic; while online learning has its perks, I do miss FTF time with instructors and colleagues to get valuable feedback/clarify my thinking. All the best with that :)

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  3. Tracey,
    Thank you for the clarification on "innovative." Your explanation help me rephrased my research interests.

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