ERIC Number: EJ797212
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-May-7
Pages: 3
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0277-4232
EISSN: N/A
Online Education Cast as "Disruptive Innovation"
Totter, Andrew
Education Week, v27 n36 p1, 12-13 May 2008
Technology-based forces of "disruptive innovation" are gathering around public education and will overhaul the way K-12 students learn--with potentially dramatic consequences for established public schools, according to an upcoming book that draws parallels to disruptions in other industries. In his "Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns," lead author Clayton M. Christensen predicts that the growth in computer-based delivery of education will accelerate swiftly until, by 2019, half of all high school classes will be taught over the Internet. Christensen predicts that providers such as charter schools, companies catering to home schoolers, private tutoring companies, and online-curriculum companies will step forward to serve students that mainline education does not serve and does not serve well. These providers will gradually improve their tools to offer instruction, which will become more affordable, and they will start attracting more and more students from regular schools. However, Christensen asks school leaders not to be afraid of his book's predictions but urges them to treat the approaching changes as an opportunity rather than a threat.
Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Innovation, Public Education, Charter Schools, Home Schooling, Tutoring, Private Sector, Online Courses
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education; Elementary Secondary Education; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A