What does it really mean to be ‘innovative’?? I hear schools often saying that they are. Can’t say that I always agree, although I’m not necessarily qualified to judge. Who can determine that anyway?
Perhaps it’s a matter of context. If nothing else nearby is a stand-out, then perhaps they are. At least, according to them.
I recently visited a Year 9 to 13 public school called Unlimited. Can be found in Christchurch NZ. Really worth a closer look. This is their foyer in the picture. Would have to admit, at least from my perspective, they’re innovative. Especially for a secondary environment. Cruise the site, and you’ll see what I mean.
I’m facilitating a session on ‘Innovative Teachers’ at the U-Learn conference in ChCh (that’s Christchurch, just in case you were wondering) in a couple of weeks, and so I’ve been doing some thinking on what to offer. Does this mean that I’ll have to make the session innovative in itself?? A bit hypocritical if it isn’t, I suppose. whew.
So for now, I’m sorting through a few examples of what might constitute ‘innovation’.
Is this innovative (Take One)?
The 2009 Open Architecture Challenge for Classrooms. Some fantastic designs here. However, I sometimes wonder just how much the pedagogy alters as a result of the new building. Basically, it too often doesn’t… unless the teachers adjust their paradigms. Which is what troubles some of us in Aussie with our BER (Building Education Revolution). Megabucks spent on new halls and classrooms (which, of course, is fantastic in itself), yet there’s no guarantee that the learning itself will be accentuated.
Is this innovative (Take Two)?
What about Plastic Logic?? There are now a number of e-Readers on the market. They’re sure going to mess up the textbook industry!! Here’s a 90-sec take on their use.
Is this innovative (Take Three)?
Had the pleasure of walking through a Leonardo da Vinci ‘machines exhibition’ on the weekend in Brisbane. Whatever innovative means, this guy was IT. How did he develop this stuff 500 years ago? 
Perhaps one of his most famous inventions was the aerial screw. The precursor to the helicopter. In his designs, Leonardo determined that it would be powered in one of two ways:
1. By four men who would push levers as they ran around the base; or
2. By means of a rope that was quickly unravelled from around the axle.
By those means, it never would have flown. However, with a stronger means of propulsion, it indeed would have taken off.
And finally (for now), is this innovative (Take Four)?!!
Is it ever! Google Wave will become one of the most powerful means of personal communication on the planet by mid-2010. Just imagine email mixed with FaceBook mixed with Flickr mixed with Google Translate.
Ponder this. You could be writing a message to 10 different people around the planet. As you write, they can read your text live. Not only that, those 10 people could be from 8 different countries. No issue if they speak and read and write in a different language. Google Translate will instantly translate it for them. And when they reply in their language, it will immediately be translated back into English for you.
More at http://wave.google.com/ The video goes for 80 mins. However, you can get a fair sense of it in the 1st 8 mins or so. As you watch, ponder what you’ll be able to do with this!
Is the world about to end??!
Compare that to a group of people I recently overheard in conversation. To a person, they were lamenting the state of the world today. In most circles, we’d call them prophets of doom. And the pending holocausts (at least in their minds) almost seemed to be something that they wanted to see. Blowed if I know, but they appeared to be getting their kicks out of believing that something terrible is imminent.
Part of the issue, for me, is that this group of people live in one of the most affluent countries on the planet, every one of them has permanent employment, and, as far as I could tell, they seemed to be reasonably healthy. Well, physically anyway. In the most literal sense of the expression, they really do need to get a life.
Now don’t get me wrong here. Perhaps there will be a series of difficult issues up ahead. I’m no Pollyanna; and I support the contentions that the world presently is carrying too much debt, and that we need to act on global warming immediately, and that there are still massive gaps between the haves and have-nots on a wide variety of resource issues.
However, I also know that the collective human spirit, when suitably inspired, will overcome anything. Without exception. Our history is replete with examples of this application of spirit.
However (and it’s a BIG however), it’s still a matter of individual and collective choice as to whether or not we make the effort to release that spirit. We each, and together, create our own lives through the choices that we make every day.
Here’s an abject reality. If you think that your life is going to be miserable, it probably will be.
Here’s another reality. If 6.7 billion people think that the world has a miserable future, then it probably will be.
The concept of self-fulfilling prophecies is more than just a theory. It is often referred to as the Pygmalion Effect. The self-fulfilling prophecy, in other words. If you are convinced that something is going to happen, it actually is more likely to occur. You will sub-consciously (and sometimes even consciously) create situations that are more likely to take place.
So, given all of that, I have two questions for you:
Q.1. Out of ten, what would you predict the next five years of your life to be like? (one would be horrendous, five would be OK, ten would be extraordinary)
Q. 2. Out of ten, what would you predict the next five years of life on this planet to be like?
I’m giving myself a 9.5, and the world a 9. And you know what? I’ll bet that, for me, it’ll probably be about right. So what are your scores?
And here’s my very specific point about all of this. What’s the average score for all of humanity right now? Because, whatever it is, that’s probably where we’ll end up.
And that’s why, when I overhear groups of people in conversation, I would hope to hear people talking about the inspiring possibilities, in which we will collectively release our human ingenuity and spirit.
In your very next dialogue, please focus on the inspiration of solution. And encourage others to do the same.