“Disruptive Innovation” makes it possible for simple, affordable, and accessible products to replace products that are complex, expensive and inaccessible. Classic examples from business are: Toyota replacing Ford, the PC replacing the mainframe, and Southwest replacing any other airline. Disruptive Innovation is a game changer, and in the Disrupting Class, Clayton Christensen’s application of disruptive innovation to the education system will change the debate and redefine how we look at education forever. The way the educational system is set up forces standardisation. But each student – whether child or adult - learns in a different way and has different needs - and therefore needs customisation. Disrupting Class uses the theories of disruptive innovation to show how schools and training organisations can overcome this dilemma.
Society now asks this system to do something it has never before done: educate every member. To tackle this, schools and organisations must make learning intrinsically motivating for each student.
In the education and training field, the disruptive innovation that Christensen argues for is computer based learning replacing the current teacher centric classroom model. Computer based learning is different from simply “buying computers for the classroom” – and Christensen explains exactly how computer based learning can become the disruptive innovation that makes education more affordable, accessible, and customisable so that students truly learn more.
