ASSIGNMENT # 3 REDO

Well I must admit I truly didn't get disruptive innovation the 1st time around. Here is my second attempt. I am past the anger and onto the discovery!!

Disruptive innovation has impacted the field of education through the invention of web-based instruction. Online bachelors and masters degrees have emerged into the market of education and disrupted the traditional educational system. In addition to post-secondary degrees, we are now beginning to see online programs for K-12. Disruptive innovation is not an improvement on a product or service, but rather the act of “bringing to the market a product or service that actually is not as good as what companies historically had been selling” (Christensen, Horn, & Johnson, 2011). However, this new product or service is oftentimes cheaper, simpler, more accessible, and converts “non-consumers to consumers”(p.47). This translates to the industry of education in that the traditional model of attending class in person, interacting with your professors and peers in a face-to-face setting and physically being in the same place at the same time, has been disrupted by online classes.
Disruptive innovation occurs when there is a need that is not being fulfilled in the traditional market. Traditionally, organizations or companies attend to the highest-tier customer, and products and services are improved to maintain the interest of these customers. This continued changing and improvement of products and services is called sustaining innovation. “Airplanes that fly farther, computers that process faster, cellular phone batteries that last longer, and televisions with clearer images are all sustaining innovations” (p.46). Sustaining innovation is different from disruptive innovation in that disruptive innovations are usually of lower quality, appear in an unexpected fashion, and traditionally surprise companies whose focus is improving their already-successful products.
Historically the invention of the PC exemplifies disruptive innovation. The minicomputer at its inception costs “200,000 and required an engineering degree to operate [it]” (p.48). Apple then began selling the IIe computer marketed for children as a toy. Since children were “non-consumers”, the children nor Apple cared that the quality of computing was poor. Eventually Apple improved upon the PC, thus making way for the unimaginable success of this new market explosion. This was disruptive innovation at its most fundamental level. “Disruption almost always kills such companies, as they lose their customers.” The competing “minicomputer companies were no different; virtually all of them collapsed in the late 1980s” (p. 50). This disruptive innovation of the personal computer was unexpected, began by appealing to “non-consumers”, and shook the computer market.
More recently, online education has disrupted the educational industry. Through sustaining innovation the educational system has invested in tutoring programs, after school programs, educational consultants, and increased staff in order to boost scores and maintain student success and achievement. However, not all students are successful in this traditional learning environment and have not reaped the benefits of this sustaining innovation. Online classes and programs have swept the educational industry, providing solutions to a niche market of those who are simply too busy to attend conventional school due to the constraints of their job, family, or distance. More recently, K-12 programs have forged their way into society offering solutions to children with learning disabilities, physical handicaps, and behavioral issues. K-12 programs have also been successful in reaching high school dropouts, pregnant students, and students who have faced expulsion or dismissal from school.
What the educational system did not anticipate is how online learning has proven to be a definitive catalyst for change in the educational system. The disruptive innovation in online education has evolved into students choosing to attend online school simply because it is more convenient and preferable. In fact it is just plain easier to attend school online. Working mothers and fathers with small children such as me have been given the opportunity to earn a master’s degree while continuing to be a busy teacher, mother, and wife. The disruption has occurred in that now colleges are being forced to keep up by offering an online alternative to classes, simply to keep up with these revolutionary programs such as the one offered by ACU. In looking at my alma mater’s website recently, the University of North Texas, I observed that they now offer online classes through Blackboard, the program that my husband also uses through Houston Community College.
With all of the wonderful advantages of online school, there are also challenges. Critics will state that online students are not receiving a personalized experience that is possible only in person. However, “online learning today accommodates different paces of learning, and some allows students to chose different pathways to learning the material” (p.91). Online learning has changed my life considerably for the better, as I am able to realize my goals from the comfort of my own home. I feel that my online learning is personalized, and I am forging real relationships with my peers and professors, equating to a rich educational experience. I am able to digest the material, talk to peers and colleagues about the information, and burn the midnight oil if needed as to not disrupt family responsibilities. Attending school this way can also be more challenging however, because nothing can replace a meaningful conversation with a professor. Having said that, I have chosen this disruptive innovation of online education and it has greatly benefited both me and my family.
Online education has proven to be a remarkably successful disruptive innovation within the educational industry. It is more convenient for consumers and has taken education by sneak attack. Will traditional learning institutions be crushed by online education? Only time will answer this question.
“Computer-based learning has already planted itself in these foothold markets. It is gaining ‘market share’ at a predictable pace. Like all disruptions, it first appears as a blip on the radar, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, the mainstream rapidly adopts it” (p. 91).
I have been transformed from a “non-consumer” to a “consumer” (p.47) of online education and am thankful for this opportunity. I am confident that the disruptive innovation of online education will transform the education industry for the better, offering a never-before available solution to those who seek out an education in a non-traditional setting.

Resources
Christensen, C.M., Horn M.B., & Johnson, C.W. (2011). Disrupting class: how disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. New York: McGraw Hill.