We can learn from these examples of innovation that sometimes, as Plato was paraphrased as saying, “necessity is the mother of all invention” or, in our case, innovation.
I was struck by Joi Lto’s statement that “education is what people do to you and Learning is what you do to yourself” (Perry, 2015, 10:12). That is a way of thinking of learning that never occurred to me. What a great perspective for myself and my student population. I do not think I have been practicing this in my learning or the environments I influence. I need to incorporate this quote into my signature and daily life for a while, inspiring myself and my students.
I enjoyed Lto’s now-ist call to action. Nevertheless, somewhat ironically, I seem to have a case of analysis paralysis regarding the Literature review. His challenge to stop plotting and planning every move and instead act is quite the timely message for me to stop trying to control everything before picking a direction. The only thing holding me back is myself. I know I must embrace failing forward.
I am somewhat new to my current role, but during my interview process, I made it very clear that I was looking for a position that would allow me to use my skills, knowledge, and big picture perspective to suggest improvements. I have already implemented some strategies and am constantly looking for more ways to make our processes more effective. Thus far, I have had full support from my supervisor.
My colleagues have been willing to adopt my suggestions. All seem open to incorporating technology if they feel it is valuable and will make their day-to-day operations more efficient.
I will strive to provide a resource through my innovation plan to provide students with choice, ownership, and voice through an interactive resource that they can utilize at their own pace, as needed, throughout their program at each step of the educational process.
References
Perry, Joshua. (2015, May 15). Joi Lto Want to innovate Become a ‘now ist’ [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRAMQJJu7uY&t=222s
The Advisor That Cares 