For me, one of the greatest tests of whether something is truly innovative is simply the answer, “Oh, Duh!” Take the printing press, light bulb, telephone, car, airplane, smartphone, or computer. In hindsight, they seem so obvious. How could we have ever lived without them?
The truth is generations did cope without these modern marvels, but thanks to visionaries who didn’t accept the status quo, new technologies increased quality of life, brought about democratization, and opened the doors for further innovation to the masses. It is time Ed-tech procurement (ETP) be added to this list.
The operative word from the last paragraph is “cope”. It is silly to think that in a $12B industry (which received $2B in investments last year), affecting millions of students, we cope with an ETP system stuck in the Stone Ages and we systemically accept this as the norm.
Related: New Report Shows a Need for Improvement in Ed-Tech Purchasing
The norm doesn’t lead to innovation. As Henry Ford-car assembly line pioneer—once said, “If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me a faster horse.” Steve Jobs cited this quote in a 2008 Fortune interview when commenting on Apple’s logic behind creating iTunes. These visionaries weren’t satisfied with the status quo and just as they challenged conventional wisdom, we too need to challenge the current ETP status quo.
Challenging the status quo can naturally attract haters who are okay with the norm and hate, hate, hate, hate change. (reference to Taylor Swift anyone? You can thank my kids for getting that song stuck in your head all day). With all modern advancements, there have been naysayers. Modernizing ETP is not a solution in search for a problem, nor needless buzzwords. There really is a problem. I have experienced it personally and professionally. It is happening right here, right now (now you can have two songs from two different decades stuck in your head).
The good news is that challenging norms and spurring innovation is not a foreign concept to schools. We ask students and teachers to challenge norms and innovate as part of their jobs every day. This is what the Future Ready and 21st Century skills movement is all about. Let’s be innovative, not ironic.
