If you look at the word disruptive in any thesaurus it has all of these negative synonyms such as "unruly" "aggressive"...."THREATENING!!!!!"
scary, huh?
Well, maybe if we were to look at disruptive from another angle.... as it disrupts the traditional models of "doing"; that, yes, it is "out of order" with what has been established or is generally accepted. Is this such a bad thing? I think not. Sometimes it is good to challenge the status quo. It might be an uncomfortable process, but change usually is. Personally, I think that anything that disrupts an established practice, idea or philosophy leads to questions, pondering, debating and critical thinking. It can also lead to an open dialogue where there is an opportunity for diverse voices to be heard. In the particular case of disruptive technologies with regards to education, there is no doubt that for teachers and instructors especially it might be uncomfortable to get use to the idea of allowing these types of "artifacts" and "mediums" that can cause "disruption" from the daily deposit of information. But when they learn to look at these technologies as innovative resources, the attitudes change and both students and teachers become co-collaborators and co creators of knowldge. There is no longer that dynamic of students as repositories of knowedge, but there is now a reciproicty that leads to building of knowledge and understanding.
scary, huh?
Well, maybe if we were to look at disruptive from another angle.... as it disrupts the traditional models of "doing"; that, yes, it is "out of order" with what has been established or is generally accepted. Is this such a bad thing? I think not. Sometimes it is good to challenge the status quo. It might be an uncomfortable process, but change usually is. Personally, I think that anything that disrupts an established practice, idea or philosophy leads to questions, pondering, debating and critical thinking. It can also lead to an open dialogue where there is an opportunity for diverse voices to be heard. In the particular case of disruptive technologies with regards to education, there is no doubt that for teachers and instructors especially it might be uncomfortable to get use to the idea of allowing these types of "artifacts" and "mediums" that can cause "disruption" from the daily deposit of information. But when they learn to look at these technologies as innovative resources, the attitudes change and both students and teachers become co-collaborators and co creators of knowldge. There is no longer that dynamic of students as repositories of knowedge, but there is now a reciproicty that leads to building of knowledge and understanding.
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