Disruptive Technologies in Higher Education Michael Flavin King’s College London

2 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).

3 Honda in the USA (Christensen, 1997) (c) Design Council Slide Collection

4 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 ). ‘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. 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.

10 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).

11 Implications The strategic development of library services. The role of the H.E.I. as gatekeeper.

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References Christensen, 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. (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), Markides, C. (2006). Disruptive Innovation: In need of Better Theory, The Journal of Product Innovation Management, 23 (1),

Thank you, and here’s a questionnaire!