Summary & Reflection of Bernadette Robinson’s “Innovation in ODL: Some lessons from experience and research”

Bernadette Robinson discusses the problems and research linked to innovation in open distance learning (ODL) and also proposes recommendations to counter these problems. Robinson defines innovation as “an idea, practice, approach, process, system or object which is perceived as new by an individual, group or organisation” (p.16).

She highlights four main areas of concern in innovating ODL:

1. Resource availability
2. Organisational issues/aspects
3. Human resource capacity
4. Use of technology

As with most new initiatives, change will occur in:

• organisational practices
• new kinds of work groups and relationships across specialisms and administrative boundaries
• the use of technology and additional media for teaching courses formerly provided face to face
• creation of new curricula and methods of assessment
• adoption of new pedagogical approaches, to maximise the potential of new technology or media, or to fit new kinds of learners
• new value and belief systems
• the skills and expertise of individuals, roles, job descriptions and the creation of new specialisms
• resource allocation and financial decision making (p.19)

The most important factor in determining successful implementation of ODL was the design of the students’ learning experience – addressing a specific need, enhancing learning in ways not previously possible, using a soundly based design strategy integrated with learner support and appropriately designed assessment. There are also numerous other factors to consider but the students’ learning experience should be the organisation’s primary concern as substantiated by findings from studies undertaken by Alexander and McKenzie (1998, cited in Robinson, 2001, p.19).

Robinson continues the chapter with a discussion of the research on innovation. She presents two broad models:
1. the linear – which reflects rational planning and a one way view (usually top down) of communication. Most favoured by bureaucratic societies and institutions, it has been criticised for ignoring the social and political realities of project implementation.

2. the convergence – views planning as a participatory activity, with shared decision making. In practice, it can appear messier and more adhoc than the linear model and runs the risk of losing direction through generating wider ownership of the change. (p.21)

These models were paralleled with the rational planning and dynamic change approaches to educational change.

The discussion on research continued to encompass adoption patterns. The typical pattern of adoption of innovation reveals an S-shaped curve. It is said that for an innovation to gain a momentum of its own, the rate of adoption needs to reach 10-20%. From the curve, different categories of adopters can be identified:

1. Innovators
2. Early adopters
3. Early majority
4. Late majority
5. Laggards (p.22)

In regards to adoption. when enough people have taken on board the innovation to make the further rate of adoption assured or self sustaining, it is said that the innovation has reached critical mass (p.23). Robinson then goes on to propose strategies to achieve this and lists five factors that affect the rate of adoption:

1. Relative advantage
2. Compatibility
3. Complexity
4. Trialability
5. Observability (p.24-25)

Specific features of an organisation that influence its take up of innovation were also mentioned:

1. Size
2. Degrees of centralization (the level of power concentrated in a few strong leaders)
3. Formalization (the extent of rule-following in the organization)
4. System openness ( the extent to which is exchanged with the external environment) (p.25)

Robinson ends the chapter with a brief discussion of three broad conclusions of the problems and research into innovation:

1. the organisational dimension and quality of planning need more attention
2. problem-solving is an integral component of the process
3. innovation in education and ODL is not a simple exercise

Overall I found this reading quite challenging as it covered a lot of material. It was very informative and helps us understand the place of e-learning in organisations and the factors that affect how organisations view it and why organisations use it.