What is Innovation Anyway?
This is a subject reasonably close to my heart but I have to confess that what it actually is, is something I have assumed or perhaps taken for granted that I understand its meaning. I have been invited to join a group known as the Southern Innovators; basically an informal loose network of Adelaide South TAFE persons interested in flexible and innovative practice. This got me linked to the wider TAFESA innovations group with a website known as the TAFESA Innovations in Teaching and Learning.
One of the resources is a collection of ideas about what innovation is, its purpose, impact, barriers, support and asks what is the role of innovative practitioners. Reading this article has made me think more deeply about these questions and I'm a little surprised at the assumptions I had made.
For example, my understanding of what innovation is means coming up with a new idea and putting it into practice that brings about a cost saving or benefit. Others represented in the article had similar views but I now believe that this is not strictly true. Coming up with a new idea means finding an original thought and putting it into practice. If one thinks about all the new developments taking place around us, very little of it comes from original thought. The vast majority of innovative ideas have come from someone else's use or concept that is then modified or adjusted to suit another.
That is certainly the case with developments at Onkaparinga Campus Heavy Vehicles. People who have come and reviewed what we have been doing are surprised and inspired. Many traditional teaching and learning methods and assumptions have been turned upside down with the focus firmly placed back where it belongs; with the learner. There are a range of resources and opportunities being developed to enhance the learning and provide valuable learning experiences which are not just strictly trade based training. I have been told on many occasions that you cannot teach a trade or skills based subject using flexible learning including online materials. This is rubbish of course because it isn't the learning that is the real issue but the assessment processes to ensure competency is really achieved, not surmised based on having met just knowledge based criteria. The key is to use the same assessment criteria that is needed to measure whether a person is competent or not and provide experiences that can enable the competency to be met. How that is done depends on the learners and their individual learning styles.
What we are trying to do is offer opportunities to try different learning experiences and have enough of them that at some point the learner has a "light bulb" moment when it all falls into place and becomes part of their skill and behaviour.
At the end of the day though we have not done anything original or exceptional. It would certainly be difficult to find an original concept in any of it!
Still, we are out there doing it differently and remaining open to new and alternative ways of structuring our courses. This has not been easy and will always be a challenge but the work must continue; for the sake of highly skilled imaginative technicians that will be needed to provide us with the quality, innovative solutions to improve and bring comfort to our everyday lives.
My primary role now must expand and encourage others to take up the challenge because I certainly cannot continue to do this on my own. It's the only way we can grow.
One of the resources is a collection of ideas about what innovation is, its purpose, impact, barriers, support and asks what is the role of innovative practitioners. Reading this article has made me think more deeply about these questions and I'm a little surprised at the assumptions I had made.
For example, my understanding of what innovation is means coming up with a new idea and putting it into practice that brings about a cost saving or benefit. Others represented in the article had similar views but I now believe that this is not strictly true. Coming up with a new idea means finding an original thought and putting it into practice. If one thinks about all the new developments taking place around us, very little of it comes from original thought. The vast majority of innovative ideas have come from someone else's use or concept that is then modified or adjusted to suit another.
That is certainly the case with developments at Onkaparinga Campus Heavy Vehicles. People who have come and reviewed what we have been doing are surprised and inspired. Many traditional teaching and learning methods and assumptions have been turned upside down with the focus firmly placed back where it belongs; with the learner. There are a range of resources and opportunities being developed to enhance the learning and provide valuable learning experiences which are not just strictly trade based training. I have been told on many occasions that you cannot teach a trade or skills based subject using flexible learning including online materials. This is rubbish of course because it isn't the learning that is the real issue but the assessment processes to ensure competency is really achieved, not surmised based on having met just knowledge based criteria. The key is to use the same assessment criteria that is needed to measure whether a person is competent or not and provide experiences that can enable the competency to be met. How that is done depends on the learners and their individual learning styles.
What we are trying to do is offer opportunities to try different learning experiences and have enough of them that at some point the learner has a "light bulb" moment when it all falls into place and becomes part of their skill and behaviour.
At the end of the day though we have not done anything original or exceptional. It would certainly be difficult to find an original concept in any of it!
Still, we are out there doing it differently and remaining open to new and alternative ways of structuring our courses. This has not been easy and will always be a challenge but the work must continue; for the sake of highly skilled imaginative technicians that will be needed to provide us with the quality, innovative solutions to improve and bring comfort to our everyday lives.
My primary role now must expand and encourage others to take up the challenge because I certainly cannot continue to do this on my own. It's the only way we can grow.
posted by Tony @ 8:26 PM
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