Innovation in educational organisations, factors, quality and processes

implied

Akershus University College

Master Erasmus Mundusfor Team
Second Semester, 2008

Abstract

This document studies the role of innovation incurred in organizational educations, the
implications of the process for the implementation and its adaptability in new contexts,
the changes that has to be made in order to innovate, the influence of technology and
several new models of learning as the use of ICT and networks of professionals and
development and innovation catalizers for information society members.

Introduction

The aim of the topics analyzed in this text are close related with innovation in
education, this is a wide subject open for a wide discussion due to many definitions
given for many authors as a lot of interpretations made from the conclusion resulting
from case studies.
Therefore, it is necessary to start a point of reference with some of the
definitions that bring to us a start point to continue with the analysis so it can be related
with some important aspects of innovation.
Engestrom (2007), the way in which we conceptualise innovation has important
consequences for the educational systems of the future. The traditional model
assumes that innovation consists of a process where an original insight is followed by
product development, marketing and the dissemination of innovative products. The
need of innovation is translated into a call for increasing levels of educational
achievement and investments in higher education and research. This model
emphasises original ‘act of creation’ and the role of scientific and technical knowledge
as the sources of innovation.
Tuomi (2002) In practice, innovation rarely occurs according to this traditional
model.
The key to innovation is the social adoption of new technological opportunities. The
interpretation of an idea or technology becomes fixed only when it starts to have
practical implications for a specific community of users.
Innovations are systems innovations that add new elements to existing systems or
reconfigure existing systems in novel ways.
Carbonell (2001). Group of interventions decisions and processes with a grade of
intentionality and systematization trying to modify attitudes, ideas, cultures, contents,
models and pedagogical practices and at the same time, a new forms of products
appears when new forms of acquisition of knowledge are part of the process, such as a
renewal line, new projects, and curriculum design, strategies of teaching and learning,
didactical models and other forms of administration and design of curriculum around an
important element as it is the classroom. (Carbonell 2001)

One of the main concerns in organizations is the amount of resources designated in

projects that has and added value, those who leader in this aspect are a reference in
every field. A main concern in every organization is the amount of resources that are
Intend to be administrated when an innovation is setting.
Many researches had been done around the methodology for evaluation of proposals
on projects of educational innovation. Pablo Aragonés(2006) propose a procedure to
evaluate Educational Innovation Projects.

This procedure has allowed the authors to analyze the possible scenarios that the
Institute of Educational Sciences board team might come up against in the future.
The authors affirmed that in any evaluation and decision-making process, outweighs
the cost of the possible consequences of an erroneous decision, and the development
of a methodology of evaluation provide the final decision with information to help
ensure the success of the project.

One of the methodologies ranks the proposals using different techniques, in order to
analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each of them and give further
recommendations to the Institution.

This kind of methodology is by itself innovative, it shows that important components of

a project sometimes considered a whole system, like it is the distribution of resources
and the procedure to prioritize one project in contexts where it has to be chosen, this is
an important aspect to be considered in order to reach the objectives proposed.
In the first place, an innovation can be measured in terms of factors and population
implied, this aspect is considered important to highlight, as well, the formation given to
a teacher in other words, this is the main purpose of the key elements in order to
optimizes, evolutionize and replace old practices, some examples of the evolution in
the style of learning that are considered relevants are, new technologies such as b-
learning, m-learning, e-learning or the characteristics of the conventional – linear model
of education, the new hybrid type of learning mode, and requirements for the
development of an open learning environment.

Therefore, the educational change is a component of a complex process and dynamics

that facilitate a transformation of the teaching models, those changes in the scholar
identity, improvement in deployment of every student and adaptation of the changes in
the same context are part of the social function of education, and consequences of
different models applied.

Based on this reasoning, Innovation has to take a renewal line with a constructive
attitude focusing on the new demands and previsibles changes in order to take a step
further that asserts with the answers, all the above, is a new way of thinking, new
ideas, new methods and pedagogical practices, new models and new resources.

As a complement with this argument, innovation is not all the result that emerges from
original thoughts, or progressist and rupture, it is everything that is encourage with not
as original, or progressist ways but are based with reasons that point the success, this
means, the capacity of knowing the possible effects and consequences in advance.
However, it is considered important in the process of the implementation the
relationship between educator and learner, the components has a meaning in open
and distance learning.
If innovation is understood as change in social practices, the implementation can be
embedded in more extended social learning processes.

Additional, there are many factors that affect negatively the development of the new
changes, these factors are exposed to professors, and these resistances are showed
in problems who attempt the organizations in a society that is looking for the creation of
new knowledge in order to set a dynamic. The problems that are derivated from
changes come from the knowledge or lack of technical formation, thus, it can be called
strategic problems that put a big barrier behind those changes.
In order to face the challenge of an innovation in every field of education in which it
take place, we have to ask ourselves, is it important to make a close relation between
teaching and research through innovation? Considering a similar topic, Is it important to
consider an innovation the change of teaching or the evolution in the old practices used
in education, or innovation has to be a completely new style of doing things in this field,
to go further, are there different kinds of innovations that need to be analyzed in order
to be well applied in different contexts? What kind of methodological practices are more
appropriate for the introduction of innovations related with use of technology.
Another important aspect is the changes in the curriculum design in order to adapt
correctly with an incoming innovation.

The development of the information society and the widespread dissemination of

Information and CommunicationTechnology (ICT) give rise to new opportunities for
learning and acquiring new digital skills and competences that are necessary for
employment, education, training, self-development and participation in society. As our
societies become more knowledge-based, what people need to learn and know also
changes. There is growing awareness in Europe that there is a need for a new vision of
ICT and learning that takes into account the shifts and trends that are transforming the
way people work, learn, train, make sense of their world and have fun in a digitalized,
networked and knowledge-based society.
The hybrid type of learning is one in the context of which we try to combine in the best
possible way new technological applications, set the educational process free from its
constraints in time and space and the respective pedagogical references to the basis of
the traditional educational procedures school of thought.

En E-learning el rol del profesor es el de un tutor on-line. Al igual que un profesor

convencional, resuelve las dudas de los alumnos, corrige sus ejercicios, propone
trabajos, la diferencia radica en que todas estas acciones las realiza utilizando Internet
como herramienta de trabajo, bien por medios textuales (mensajería instantánea,
correo electrónico), bien por medios audiovisuales (videoconferencia).

En B-learning el formador asume de nuevo su rol tradicional, pero usa en beneficio

propio el material didáctico que la informática e Internet le proporcionan, para ejercer
su labor en dos frentes: como tutor on-line (tutorías a distancia) y como educador
tradicional (cursos presenciales). La forma en que combine ambas estrategias
depende de las necesidades específicas de ese curso, dotando así a la formación on-
line de una gran flexibilidad.

M-learning, or "mobile learning", now commonly abbreviated to "mLearning", has

different meanings for different communities. Although related to e-learning and
distance education, it is distinct in its focus on learning across contexts and learning
with mobile devices. One definition of mobile learning is: Learning that happens across
locations, or that takes advantage of learning opportunities offered by portable
technologies. In other words, mobile learning decreases limitation of learning location
with the mobility of general portable devices.
The term covers: learning with portable technologies, where the focus is on the
technology (which could be in a fixed location, such as a classroom); learning across
contexts, where the focus is on the mobility of the learner, interacting with portable or
fixed technology; and learning in a mobile society, with a focus on how society and its
institutions can accommodate and support the learning of an increasingly mobile
population that is not satisfied with existing learning methodologies.
How innovation could be measured in terms of factors and population implied.
What can be seen as innovation in a determined context?
Innovation as a factor for the quality of educative organisations
The important role of formation of teachers
Different meanings for innovation
Principal characteristics of process of innovation
Conditions for the successful implementation of innovation
What kind of methodological practices are more appropriate for the introduction of
innovations related with use of technology.
Determinant factors in innovation
• Contextualized
• Organisational culture
• Population influenced
• Level of implication of population
• Climate and medium
• Efficacy and development
• External recognize and resources.
• Dimensions of transformational leadership
• Vision, individual consideration, intellectual stimulation
• Professional networks and communication (ICT)
• Bologna declaration for European convergence (2003)
• ICT. Digital alfabetización, constant lifelong learning.
• University. Improvement of resources.
Teorías emergentes relacionadas a innovaciones alrededor del uso de ICT para
potenciar nuevas metodologías pedagógicas.

Many research applied on the use of ICT show that student teachers frequently face
difficulties with learning how to use technology tools due to these skills-related
difficulties, the instructors of the course had to provide training sessions for
demonstrating the different software to student teachers, and often technology itself
turned out to be the point of instruction and not the role that technology can have in
designing technology- enhanced learning environments.

Thus, it could be the case that student teachers felt so caught up in learning how to use
the tools that they lost sight of the bigger picture. Moreover, It could also be the case
that the cognitive load imposed by learning the technology was so high that student
teachers were left with not enough cognitive resources to attend to the process of
designing appropriate technology-supported instruction.
Shulman (1987) calls _pedagogical reasoning._ The term _pedagogical reasoning_
refers to the process of transforming subject matter into forms that are pedagogically
powerful as well as identifying and selecting strategies for representing key ideas in the
lesson (Shulman, 1987). The source of pedagogical reasoning is pedagogical content
knowledge (PCK), which is a special amalgam of different components of teachers_
knowledge, such as subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, knowledge of
students, and understanding of the social, political, cultural, and physical environment
(Shulman, 1986). Shulman (1986, 1987) described PCK as the ways content,
pedagogy, and knowledge of learners are blended into an understanding of how
particular topics to be taught are represented and adapted to learners_ characteristics,
interests, and abilities. Specifically, PCK relates to the transformation of several types
of knowledge, includes an understanding of what makes the learning of specific
concepts easy or difficult, and embodies the aspects of content most germane to its
teachability (Shulman, 1986). Thus, PCK encompasses an understanding of students_
preconceptions and learning difficulties, and includes the most useful forms of
representation, the most powerful analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations,
demonstrations, and other ways of representing and formulating the subject in forms
that are comprehensible to learners.

Innovaciones alrededor de medir lo que los modelos pedagógicos aplicados a un

contexto en particular.
Se abordará el concepto de hybrid learning,

Kind of innovation. When they are deep and extensive, they affect all the organisation
and fundamental aspects like, values, forms, thoughts, and pedagogical practices.
Formation for innovation. To measure the relation between teaching and research
trough the innovation.

Difference between innovation and change

Perspective of the development of strategies competences and pedagogical practices.
Problems and conditions for success
Does the innovation can use all the traditional functions of teachers, and they can
assume all the conditions of the new paradigm of teaching and learning.
Engestrom (2007)
References

Charoula Angeli, Department of Education, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box

20537, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus
Transforming a teacher education method course through technology

YVES PUNIE, 2007, Learning Spaces: an ICT-enabled model of future learning

in the Knowledge-based Society