Can this innovative theory save higher education?

Clayton Christensen argues that theory of disruptive innovation could have solutions for colleges and universities

innovation-christensen-educationWhether or not you believe that higher education in its more traditional model is relevant for the students of tomorrow is moot, since higher education’s model (thanks to student loan debt, college and university debt, rising tuition costs, and a lousy economy) is currently in jeopardy.

A problem, explained Clayton Christensen, the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, that can potentially be solved by looking at his creation, the “disruptive innovation” theory.

In short (you can read a more detailed account here) the disruptive innovation theory “describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves up market, eventually displacing established competitors.”…Read More

Opinion: Disruptive innovation needed in higher education

“Disruptive Innovation” is a buzz phrase that is running wild through the world of entrepreneurship these days, says Dr. James Nolan, president of Southwestern College. There are Disruptive Innovators discussion groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. Though president of Southwestern College, Santa Fe, I am a card-carrying member. What is disruptive innovation? It may be more elucidating to start by naming some of the disruptive innovators of our era. Apple’s Steve Jobs, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Ebay’s Pierre Omidyar and Meg Whitman. Then there’s Facebook’s Mark Zuckerman, Skype’s Nikklas Zenstrom and Paypal’s Peter Thiel. These guys (used loosely) never believed for one second that there is nothing new under the sun. Disruptive innovators are insanely creative. They are, by definition, rule-breakers, and so almost invariably end up as entrepreneurs. They have to set their own rules, or create a world in which there are no rules. Richard Branson and his rocket ships. Like that…

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