Posts
Google Keep reminders will be saved to Tasks
2 years ago
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This blog is the result of a discussion on how to share our thoughts and ideas on the books we have been reading. We decided to create a variety of items using many of the "open source" programs we will be highlighting this year with Chester County teachers.
4 comments:
Scott Berkun worked at Microsoft from 1994-2003. Much of that time was spent working on the Internet Explorer Team.
In his book, Berkun identifies 10 myths often associated with Innovation.
1. The Myth of Epiphany. Berkun contends that history depicts many of the most important innovations as being born out of a revelation experienced by a gifted or lucky individual. He cites the apple that purportedly fell on Sir Issac Newton's head. Berkun points out that this event never happened and that Newton's explanation of gravity actually followed 20 years of hard work primarily in the area of mathematics.
2. We understand the history of Innovation. As the first myth suggests, history does not tend to depict Innovation accurately. History describes events in a linear and orderly fashion that generally corresponds to a timeline. Innovation, however, tends to occurs in a divergent manner with many possible outcomes.
3.There is a method for innovation. There is no recipe for Innovation. Every innovation can follow many different paths and may have many different outcomes.
4. People love new ideas. Berkun points out that Innovations asks people to have faith in something unknown rather than something known to be safe and/or pleasant. This often results in a paradox where Innovations holding the greatest potential often encounter the greatest resistance. Berkun offers the examples of Microsoft, Google, Apple, HP and Yahoo, all of which were rejected my major corporations when first presented. He also notes that the world might have been very different if this rejection had not occurred.
5. The Lone Inventor. History often attributes major Innovations to individuals or small groups. In fact, Berkun states, every Innovation is built upon the work of many people over extended periods of time. Interestingly, Innovations only began to be attributed to individuals after the Renaissance. Prior to that period, it was considered culturally inappropriate to credit people with such accomplishments.
6. Good ideas are hard to find. Berkun quotes Einstein who said, "imagination is more important than knowledge." Berkun goes on to express concern at the fact that neither the workplace or the school reflect this. Both, he contends, value "conformance of mind" over creativity.
7. Your boss knows more about innovation than you do. This is a common myth among employees who assume that their managers have greater expertise and knowledge so they must be more capable of innovation. Berkun points out that, "high experience and confidence make people the greatest resistors to new ideas as they have the most to lose."
8. The best ideas win. Berkun provides examples where this clearly wasn't the case. One of the most interesting was the metric system. Thomas Jefferson realized that the English system of measurement was confusing. He developed an alternative system based on units of 10 that was basically the precursor to the metric system. He presented it to Congress in 1789 and the response was less than enthusiastic. In 1793, France adopted the metric system, however, and it spread throughout the world as the dominant system of measurement. It is used in 190 of 193 nations today.
9. Problems and Solutions. Berkun states, "Discovering problems actually requires just as much creativity as discovering solutions."
10.Innovation is always good. Berkun provides many examples of how Innovations that were developed for the best of reasons have also proven to have very negative effects. One example, DDT, was developed to eliminate Malaria. While it was very effective in doing so, the unanticipated effects were very negative. Another example was the development of aircraft, which greatly enhanced travel and communication, but also led to unprecedented destruction during war time. This led Berkun to conclude that there is "one truth: all innovations combine good and bad effects regardless of the intention of the innovator or how well designed they are."
As educators, we have to ask ourselves, "Are we providing our students with the skills of the Innovator?" The argument could be made that rather than teaching these skills, schools actually suppress them. How?
1. Knowledge is presented in conjunction with a timeline.
2. Learning is linear and sequential (Scope and Sequence).
3. Success is rewarded and failure is punished.
4. Individual achievement is valued and collaboration is discouraged.
5. Interdisciplinary problem-solving is rare.
6. Everything is predictable. The answers are known before the questions are asked.
7. Schools concentrate on "Tame," rather than "Wicked" problems.
How can we change this to empower our students to become innovators in the Global Economy.
One program I know of that gives students the opportunity to become innovators:
http://www.odysseyofthemind.com/whatis.php
Why Odyssey of the Mind is Good for Kids
The Odyssey of the Mind teaches students to learn creative problem-solving methods while having fun in the process. For more than twenty five years, this unique program has helped teachers generate excitement in their students. By tapping into creativity, and through encouraging imaginative paths to problem-solving, students learn skills that will provide them with the ability to solve problems -- great and small -- for a lifetime. The Odyssey of the Mind teaches students how to think divergently by providing open-ended problems that appeal to a wide range of interests. Students learn how to identify challenges and to think creatively to solve those problems. They are free to express their ideas and suggestions without fear of criticism. The creative problem-solving process rewards thinking "outside of the box." While conventional thinking has an important place in a well-rounded education, students need to learn how to think creatively and productively.
This seems like something that we should explore further. The "problems" really seem more like projects, but certainly the students would need to solve problems as they complete the projects.
Perhaps we could begin introducing these programs through the Teacher Center. Scratch would be another program that we could introduce through the Teacher Center.
Let's keep exploring. Thanks for the tip, Diane!
Odyssey of Mind is often an afterschool or program they do with their gifted students. It is rarely initiated into a classroom environment probably due to time and conflict to "curriculum" needs. I did think it started as a problem that the students were challenged to solve given certain parameters. OJR had some excellent teams participate and I believe they went to national or international finals.
In response to the second myth that history doesn't accurately portray innovation- isn't that the same premise that the author of "The lies my teacher told me" discusses in his book.
In Obama's speech last night and the correspondants' summaries NCLB may dissolve or at least change format. Could that open the door for more innovative opportunities or will we see the late adapters revert back to what they used to do? I still don't believe that the majority in education will pick up the challenge and move forward regardless of the variety of paths. Yes, I realize that is why innovations start on the fringes.Encouraging more programs that require students to analyze situations and determine what problems are occurring is a very important step and I agree with Berkun that it may be at least as important as finding solutions.
Post a Comment