Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools

OVERVIEW

So what can K-12 administrators and educators learn from two Harvard MBA graduates? Potentially quite a bit if we are willing to read carefully and consider critically what they have to say about school-level adoption of blended learning.

In the book Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools, Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker present a vision of K-12 education in need of change. They view education through the lens of the theory of disruptive innovation developed by Clayton Christensen from Harvard Business School. Christensen’s theory describes how innovations across many sectors (including education) disrupt and ultimately replace existing systems. The authors posit that current trends in online learning demonstrate the pattern of disruptive innovation in the K-12 education sector. This disruption is driven by the desire for personalization, access, and cost controls along with new options made available through advancing technology.

The book is intended as a practical “how to” guide for blended learning implementation, strongly focused on a school-level (as opposed to classroom-level) strategy for a readership consisting of school leaders and decision makers. The first two chapters lay the groundwork by defining blended learning, introduce four models of K-12 blended learning, apply the theory of disruptive innovation to describe these models, and suggest predictions for the future of K-12 blended learning. Subsequent chapters address issues related to defining the problem that an interested school wants to solve, designing a blended solution, and then implementing the solution in the school. The guidance provided is peppered with dozens of examples from real schools across the United States that are implementing blended approaches.

STRENGTHS

For school- and district-level leaders, this book offers practical strategies, tools, and advice for implementation. Tables, figures, and exhibits are included on topics ranging from assembling an effective team for a project to selecting appropriate software for a school or district. These strategies give readers a concrete foundation for blended learning endeavors.

The authors are able to provide detailed tips for for blended learning implementation due to their experience working with the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation in cataloguing various types of blends. They have seen blended learning implemented across regions, districts, and grade levels and the book is grounded in concrete examples from actual K-12 schools. For example, links to video clips give readers a (somewhat idealized) sense of what these schools look like on the ground. Three sample daily schedules illustrate ways different schools have implemented the blended learning approach. A table provides examples of how seven schools have shifted their architectural design to incorporate a modularized open design. These real-life examples leave readers excited about the potential of blended learning for innovating education, instead of overwhelmed by the prospect of upending the current system with an entirely new one.

LIMITATIONS

While Blended is a useful resource for institutional implementation of blended learning, teachers may be unsatisfied with limited course-level pedagogical guidance for applying blended learning in their classes. Other publications do focus on pedagogical preparation, such as Tucker’s (2012) Blended Learning in Grades 4-12. This book discusses the role of instructors in blended classes, ways to nurture effective discussions and communities of inquiry, as well as subject-specific ideas on bringing the benefits of blended learning to the classroom in greater detail.

Horn and Staker’s experience with blended learning in educational settings attunes them to the many challenges that can thwart a school’s success in implementing it institutionally. This book can assist faculty and administrators in anticipating common challenges they could potentially experience in developing an implementation plan and adjust their execution to lead to success. However, many of these issues may require more than a section or chapter to adequately address. For example, creating the right culture for success or preparing the planning team could fill its own book. At best, Blended raises awareness of important issues; readers may need to turn to other sources for further information. Extensive chapter notes provide a starting point for finding complementary literature.

One issue that should have been covered in greater depth is faculty development. A common fear in educational reform is that faculty will reshape innovative ideas and technology in ineffective approaches familiar to them. A strong faculty development program is important for avoiding this problem. Blended does argue for greater appreciation of instructors and for the need to gain teacher buy-in, but little guidance is given on developing a plan to help instructors transform their individual classrooms when blended learning is applied. Readers may find Arney’s (2014) Go Blended! A Handbook for Blending Technology in Schools to be a useful resource for creating a faculty development program that builds buy-in, successfully trains teachers, and provides useful support to assist teachers through the implementation process.

CONCLUSIONS

We believe Blended is an important read for anyone interested in understanding and implementing K-12 blended learning. It is one of the most comprehensive approaches to the topic that is currently available. However, readers should not expect this book to answer all their questions about K-12 blended learning; it represents just the tip of the iceberg, leaving many more questions unanswered than solved. There is still much to understand about blended learning, including: the conditions under which blended learning is most effective; how to implement personalized instruction and engage students online; how to best use teachers, other students, and technology; and how to help teachers transition to a new way of teaching. Despite these limitations, this book provides a useful perspective that may be insightful to both researcher and practitioner alike.

References

Arney, L. (2014). Go blended! A handbook for blended technology in schools. San-Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Tucker, C. R. (2012) Blended learning in grades 4-12. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.