Innovation in education technology: What is the point? Is immersive education the next step?

Abstract

Richard Lyons, an economist, describes innovation as ‘fresh thinking that creates value’. The creation of a value is particularly important in education because we can assume that the value created is the difference between the previous state and the final state that has resulted as the effect of an educational process. Rick Miller, President of Olin College of Engineering, offers this definition: ‘Innovation may then be defined as the process of having original ideas and insights that have value, and then implementing them so that they are accepted and used by significant numbers of people. By this definition, a major innovation is one that is so successful that soon after its introduction few people an even remember what life was like before the innovation was introduced’ (2011, p. 2). The definition provided by Miller is very interesting because it emphasizes the fact that the lack of dissemination of a good solution actually implies a type of futility relative to another less-good solution that has been widely applied in the teaching community. Peter Drucker (2002) states, ‘Innovation is the specific function of entrepreneurship, whether in an existing business, a public service institution, or a new venture started by a lone individual in the family kitchen. It is the means by which the entrepreneur either creates new wealth-producing resources or endows existing resources with enhanced potential for creating wealth’. Razeghi focuses on the needs of a group as a starting point to work on an innovation that helps to meet the said needs. In a book on generation of ideas, he stated, ‘innovation is not the result of thinking differently. It is the result of thinking deliberately (in specific ways) about existing problems and unmet needs’. (2008, p. 24). The aspect of well-being is highlighted by Barack Obama; in fact, his definition of innovation is ‘the creation of something that improves the way we live our lives’. Applied to education, this means that novelty is recognised in terms of an improvement in the conditions for participation by each member of a group or community, regardless of whether they perform the role of a teacher or a learner.