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| Authors: Clayton Christensen, Curtis W. Johnson, Michael B. Horn
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Category: Book
List Price: $32.95
Buy New: $21.75
You Save: $11.20 (34%)
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 1546
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.1
ISBN: 0071592067
Dewey Decimal Number: 371.3
EAN: 9780071592062
Publication Date: May 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Disruptive thinking for the classroom June 12, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I am a layperson with an interest in education and technology. I read Innovator's Dilemma and was anxious to see if Clayton Christensen could apply his unique business lens to sort through, and perhaps solve the issues concerning our failing public education system.
He and his colleagues didn't disappoint me.
This book was eminently readable and layer by layer, uncovered the weaknesses in the way we educate our kids. It's not simply a matter of putting technology in schools or tutoring kids who learn differently; it's a matter of changing the way the monolithic system, and entrenched stakeholders, work against innovation and creativity in learning by challenging the underlying foundations of that system.
According to Christensen, flexible individualized instruction combined with the proper use of technology, rewiring content development and distribution channels, and the creation of online networks of students, parents and teachers working together instead of in opposition, can revolutionize education in the United States.
If you care about the future of education, and of a child's ability to compete in the global economy, read this book.
The future of education June 21, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Administrators, teachers, parents, and policy makers would do well to read Disrupting Class. The authors approach education with the perspective of an outsider - business person, technologist, entrepreneur - but the knowledge and thoughtfulness of an insider. Instead of offering didactic or hubristic "fixes" for education, the book provides a framework for thinking about education that is fresh and practical, particularly on such issues as how technology can personalize education for the needs of each student, and most importantly, how disruptive innovation can overcome the many obstacles that have heretofore prevented reforms in the US education system.
 no solution here July 28, 2008
6 out of 13 found this review helpful
In a nutshell, here is the 'Innovators Solution' for education: since all people have different learning styles, we need to change the education model to 'student-centric learning', which here means individualized computer-based learning. This is the core of the argument, which he fleshes out with his favorite case studies of Intel, Toyota, Dell, Apple, etc.
What they don't do is play this scenario out to its logical conclusion. If students go through 12 years of school learning alone, how do they come together to live and work in a society? He mentions in passing skills employers want out of high school graduates, but ignores a key one: ability to work together in teams. Individual learning may be helpful in certain subjects at certain levels, but there is another body of research about learning from peers, in class discussions and projects, that he is missing here.
Some of the examples and backing are just naive. There are examples of this style of education in other countries that support his claim, but none are offered here. There is plenty of opportunity for disruption in education, of which this idea is potentially one, but this book is a disappointment.
The Way of the Future in Education June 12, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
The authors are on to something really, really big here- the eventual replacement of the method of instruction that has been in use since before the days of Socrates.
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If you have children or grandchildren - you need to buy and read this book August 28, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Rocket Builders most influential author, Christensen, with his co authors has taken his theory of disruptive innovation and focused on the education sector. The authors do not lay blame but with Christensen's laser sharp analysis, peel back all the root causes of public perception and changing goal posts for education and what it has done to the institution over time. He then goes on to explain how classic disruption theory - which starts with non consumers and then slowly moves up the competency level as the incumbents are forced to retreat to higher value activities is already progressing in education. He predicts that by 2020, disruptive innovation will hit that 50% mark to turn the tables on other methods (monolithic education in this case) . They show how trying to bring the disruption inside present institutions can not succeed due to the constraints that are already in place. His statements ring true as we have seen the impact of disruption on public and private sector already.
Since his team always does their homework, you are exposed to fascinating research on the impact of verbalization on new borns up to 3 years old. They explain how that is an academic headstart any parent can give their child now. He posits that early kindergarten (after 3 yrs old) and other high priced interventions are doomed to a limited success rate. As well he quickly exposes the paucity (weak techniques and theory) of real research in education since it all to often stops short of causality ( I can certainly testify to that) . Then he explains how computer based education methods are already changing and adapting to the needs of a student centric model. He illustrates how Howard Gardners multiple modes of learning could be accomodated in the disruptive model.
Once again there is a second book within the book with copious research notes in every chapter. I am one of those professional educators who packed it in based on what I experienced as the overall futility of real change in education. Now this book has reawakened my interest in change in the education market - moving to a student centric model. If you have children or grandchildren - you need to buy and read this book. If you are in the e-learning market - it is required reading. Thank you McGraw Hill! I really liked it and it is as always an easy read with loads of detail if you want it.
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