RUNNING HEADER: RATIONALE FOR TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS
Rationale for Technological Innovations
Heather Page
Heather.price@waldenu.edu
EDUC 7101: Diffusion and Integration of Educational Technology
Timothy Green
June 17, 2013
EdS in Educational Technology
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RUNNING HEADER: RATIONALE FOR TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS
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Rationale for Technological Innovations
The purpose of this paper is to consider the technological innovations that might provide
significant benefits to education. This paper will identify three innovations that are believed to
have a positive impact on education. This paper will discuss whether the three innovations
would be simple or difficult to adopt, the benefits that they would provide education, and barriers
that may exist to impede its diffusion in education. This paper will also discuss the reasons why
one of three innovations would provide the most benefits to education.
According to Rogers (2003), adoption is a decision of “full use of an innovation as the best course
of action available” and rejection is a decision “not to adopt an innovation” (p. 177). Rogers defines
diffusion as “the process in which an innovation is communicated thorough certain channels over time
among the members of a social system” (p. 5). As expressed in this definition, innovation,
communication channels, time, and social system are the four key components of the diffusion of
innovations. Innovation is the process of making changes to something already set up by introducing
something new. Over the years there have been many changes in the way education is designed and
delivered. In today’s society, technology is a major driver behind change, and plays an important role in
innovations in education.
One type of technological innovation that would benefit education is the web-based
program “Edmodo”. Edmodo is a free online site that allows teachers, students, and the school
to have social interactions that is secure. “Edmodo provides classrooms a safe and easy way to
connect and collaborate, offering a real-time platform to exchange ideas, share content, and
access homework, grades and school notices” (Laur & Kamps, 2013, para. 1). Edmodo could
easily be adopted in the schools and classrooms. This site is free and web-based and is also user
friendly. Edmodo allows teachers, students, and parents to communicate and exchange messages
RUNNING HEADER: RATIONALE FOR TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS
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openly and easily. Parents are given the ability to access and grades and assignments. Teachers
can send notifications to parents about missed assignments and upcoming due dates. Edmodo
also allows the schools to alert parents of upcoming events and activities. The only barriers that
may exist with the diffusion of Edmodo would be the lack of internet access for parents and
students outside of school.
The second technological innovation that would benefit education is the e-reader. An e
reader or electronic reader is a technological device that is used for reading content. E-readers
allow students and teachers to read content such as electronic books, newspapers, and magazines
using the internet or wifi. The adoption of this innovation would be quite easy, as long as funds
are available. Schools can purchase inexpensive e-readers, or have students bring their own from
home. President Obama challenged the nation to adopt e-textbooks and move away from the
hardback books. Some companies created various e-textbooks and this made the cost of, not
only the price of textbooks, but also, the price of certain e-readers down. Adopting the e-readers
will save the district money. School and library budgets may reduce the amount of money spent
on hard-copy texts and materials. Additional savings may come from reduced replacement costs
for lost or damaged hard-copy texts. “Digital textbooks can be more engaging, especially if
interactive content or links to websites are included. More engaging means students are more
likely to be engaged and to learn” (Moon, 2013, p.1). With all technology devices, there are
some shortcomings. One barrier that could impede to diffusion of e-readers would be that it is a
one-function device, reading. With the incorporation of Common Core State Standards, students
must be able to implement and develop, which is an aspect that the e-reader does provide.
Another barrier would be the fact that the technology that district has, may not be able to support
such a huge amount of devices being used at the same time.
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Another technological innovation that would benefit education is another web-based
program, “Study Island”. “Study Island is a web based program designed as a supplemental
educational tool geared specifically to each individual state’s achievement tests” (Meador, 2013,
para.1). Schools or districts can by a yearly subscription for the use of Study Island that can be
used for all grade levels. Study Island provides engaging programs that help students practice,
review, and reinforce content which matches Common Core State Standards. Study Island is a
research-based program and has proven results for students. This program also offers teachers
real time assessments and allows teachers to track student’s progress. One barrier that may
impede the diffusion of this program would be lack of funds.
The innovation that I believe would provide the most benefits to education would be ereaders. Although there are some barriers that exist when trying to diffuse this innovation, there
are barriers when trying to implement any new type of technology into schools. Students in
today’s classroom are so immersed in technology that the use of hardback and paperback books
seems to be obsolete. Students no longer go to the library to use encyclopedias, dictionaries, or
reference materials; they use the internet. After researching e-readers, I have learned that these
devices can be purchase at seemingly no cost at all. The material that is used to go on these ereaders can be bought using grant money or money provided from the state to purchase new
reading material and textbooks. It is seemingly unrealistic not to purchase e-readers, seeing as
the President of the United States has encouraged the adoption of e-textbooks. E-readers have
the ability to attract reluctant readers as well. A study that we recently conducted among lowreading-ability middle school students demonstrated that potential. “Students in 6th, 7th, and 8th
grades became more engaged and motivated during their scheduled silent sustained reading
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periods when they were given the opportunity to use e-readers” (Miranda, Johnson, & RossiWilliams, 2012, p.1).
I chose not to select the other two innovations because I felt as though the e-reader
benefited the best interest of the students, with the advance in reading with reluctant readers and
the fact that most of everything that a student reads is already on an electronic device. The other
two innovations, although beneficial in their own right seemed as if they were programs that
students would become easily bored with using. I also believe that the teachers would have to
“buy into” the ideas of using the other innovations. With the e-reader, the teachers would not
have choice to use them, especially if the district went to all e-textbooks.
There are many technological innovations that would benefit education. As technology is
changing and becoming more relevant in the lives of students, education and the ways in which
teachers teach is also changing. In order to meet the needs of students and also keep them
actively engaged, schools have to diffuse a variety of technological innovations that will be
beneficial to all students. The role of technology is shaping the future of higher education.
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References
Ark, T. (2012). Should your school replace textbooks with e-readers? Retrieved from,
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/on_innovation/2012/08/should_your_school_replace_tex
tbooks_with_ereaders.html
Laur, D. and Kamps, K. (2013). Using edmodo for pbl. Retrieved from,
http://www.bie.org/services/webinars/using_edmodo_for_pbl
Meador, D. (2013). Study island: a review. Retrieved from,
http://teaching.about.com/od/tech/fr/Study-Island.htm
Miranda, T., Johnson, K., and Ross-Williams, D. (2012). E-readers: powering up for
engagement. Educational Leadership (69). Retrieved from,
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/jun12/vol69/num09/EReaders@_Powering_Up_for_Engagement.aspx
Moon, B. (2013). E-readers and education: are we there yet? Retrieved from,
http://portables.about.com/od/ebookreasers/ss/Ereader-and-Education.htm
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York, NY: Free Press.
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