Each of these often comes with the underlying premise that there needs to be some sort of big upheaval in order for things to happen. That, in fact, the way things are right now will be very much different in the not too distant future. We can all point to major innovations such as the smartphone, transportation, social media and communication that have had a major effect on peoples’ lives. Big changes that, for better or for worse, have altered the way most people go about their daily lives.

Yet, many of these ideas began with simple ideas which then required the advancement of technology for them to happen. The improvement of the technologies then allow people to fill a gap that they see. In the marketplace, these gaps are how companies start, grow and expand. They fill gaps and supply a need, often that we didn’t know we had until we see it in action - the whole idea behind marketing! Create a demand for the product. Advertise to show people that, yes, indeed, they need this product. Through this cycle, eventually we arrive at the ‘we can’t live without it’ paradigm which makes the use of the technology a common practice - until it is replaced by something new.

In education and learning, this work in the same way. Yes there are gaps. There are students who need supports and there are a variety of different strategies to help them. Individual students have individual needs and teachers work to find different solutions to meet these needs. But it’s not about creating a demand for products. Or it shouldn’t be. Unlike the marketplace, the idea isn’t about creating a product and then creating a demand. It really is about finding ways to meet the needs of students to help them to learn and there are many different ways to do this.

In education there is this drive to find system-wide solutions to address issues. Concerned about student behaviours? Employ a system-wide program to monitor and reinforce particular behaviours. Want to address communication with parents? Adopt a system-wide solution to communicate with parents. Again and again, systems look to address different needs with system-wide solutions using a marketing approach that everyone needs this particular solution. If it’s system-wide, it’s easier to control, monitor, support and train people to use. It happens all the time. "I didn’t know what I was missing out on but now that I’ve used this, I don’t know how I ever lived without it!" Replace the "this & it" with some type of technology or system. And it happens. It fills a need for some people and becomes a regular part of their routine. For others, it becomes something more to do in a day that is already over full. Those who don’t adopt are often seen as ‘Luddites’ - resisting the inevitable adoption of various technologies.

But do they? Maybe, instead of approaching this from a marketing perspective of "Let’s get everyone doing the same thing because there was a gap", students would be better served by having teachers being able to access different strategies to meet the need of the particular student. Yes, it means that there might be a variety of different strategies being used which would make it more difficult to monitor but isn’t that the essence of learning? Of innovation? Of creativity? How can we help students develop their unique voices and talents if everyone has to do the same thing in the name of monitoring and sharing? Shouldn’t we start with why and how instead of what and when?

And, despite the rhetoric about schools helping students find their unique voices and develop their talents, there appears to be a greater focus on conformity and developing particular behaviours using technologies that isn’t much different than it has been in the past. We don’t put a dunce hat on them and sit them in the corner. We’re much more knowledgeable than that. Instead, we give them tokens to behave in a certain way, praising their correct behaviours or display a fuzzy little monster that we add and subtract points from when they behave like we want them to, all displayed for everyone to witness. Instead of encouraging students to go home and tell their parents about what they are learning, we get them to record it and have the parents log in to see how they are doing, wowing them with the technology but doing little to change the actual learning or activities the students are doing. I know, things are changing and teachers are doing some amazing things with their students all the while under a great deal of stress and pressure from all sides to meet testing requirements and make changes in their classrooms to keep up. But maybe in the race to "keep up", we’re seeing the marketing gap and not the learning gap. We’ve been shown different ways to address needs that, sometimes, we didn’t know we had but now we need to address.

A common analogy that is used when discussing how teachers need to be better with adopting and using technology is that doctors no longer use leeches and medieval techniques to treat their patiences. Instead they use the advancements in medicine to help their patiences. What is often missed in this analogy is that doctor training, at least the ones I am aware of, are emphasizing listening to the patient and being a support to the patient, spending more time hearing what the patient has to tell them and seeking non-intrusive techniques in help. Yes they use new technology but, in my recent visits, they still use a stethoscope, they are using the same basic tools in the examining room and I’m still sitting for a long period of time to see a doctor. What has changed is that my doctor is asking more questions about my lifestyle and what I am doing and how I am feeling. There is more time spent getting to know me as a person. In my last visit, my doctor suggested I try doing yoga and stretches for some discomfort I was having instead of providing something to take the pain away, sending me to a physio-therapist. No fancy gadgets. No technology unless you call a rubber band and a mat technology. The catch, I have to do some work. I have to be part of the solution. It’s not easy. I have to make time to do it. I’ve had to relearn a few things.

Sometimes innovation is about big things and big inventions. However, innovation is often taking simple things and seeing them from a new perspective and then developing a way to meet that need. Yes it may lead to a new invention or a new way of applying an old technology. But it also might lead to changes in habits that lead to improvements because of the way we are doing things. Yes technologies are important and should be a part of the learning environment but they shouldn't be our sole focus. Instead, let’s focus on supporting teachers to identify gaps and finding solution to support student growth and development.

How much time and space do we give students to create and look for innovative ways to solve problems?

How often do we seek simple solutions to help students and support them as they struggle to learn?

Do we begin with the Why and How of supporting student learning?

Do we recognize the power of the relationships with students in meeting their needs and supporting them?