Nope…this is incorrect. My belief is that this happens because a lot of technologies that are advertised are deemed innovative, which can be true. But innovation is a way of thinking, not simply the way we use technology. For example, is using a “scantron” to mark multiple choice exams innovative? It is definitely convenient, but does this lead to better learning in the classroom? My answer is that it could actually lead to worse learning, faster. Students do not necessarily become better learners, but better test takers. I am not about absolutes, so if you do a multiple choice exam here and there, I am fine with it, but it is not innovative. Using a SmartBoard; innovative or doing the same thing we were doing before, just “cooler”? There are a million ways that you can use google forms, but the ability to use “google forms” is not innovative’; it is what you do with it that creates the innovative practice in the classroom.
That being said, there are many ways that educators are innovative without using technology. Look at EdCamp. This has become one of the best ways that educators have taken ownership of their own learning yet technology is not necessarily at the forefront of this process; it is the process of the professional learning that is innovative.
Dispell the myth that “technology equals innovation” and you will see more educators seeing that many things they are doing in classrooms right now are extremely innovative, with or without technology.Innovation is about “mindset”, not skill set.
