From creation myth to the reality of innovation today. On the surface, Malcolm Gladwell’s latest article for The New Yorker, “Creation Myth: Xerox PARC, Apple, and the truth about innovation“, is a story about the mouse and how inventions travel – and evolve – across time and place. But examined more deeply, the article is really about the factors that determine whether you end up with an invention or an innovation. Simply put: “invention” is the manifestation of an idea or creation of something new. It doesn’t become an “innovation” until it’s applied successfully in practice – i.e., it reaches the market and impacts people’s lives. The story of PARC – and for that matter, any other innovative company – is indeed a mix of hopeful inventions, world-changing innovations, and missed opportunities, as Gladwell observes. On the challenges of invention and innovation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. A note on the popular story of the mouse Speaking of the “expert mind”… There’s a nuance that’s often forgotten in popular retellings of the story of the mouse.
E. M. Rogers - Diffusion of Innovations (3rd edition) Diffusion of innovations on Wikipedia. The diffusion of innovations according to Rogers. With successive groups of consumers adopting the new technology (shown in blue), its market share (yellow) will eventually reach the saturation level. In mathematics, the yellow curve is known as the logistic function. The curve is broken into sections of adopters. History[edit] The concept of diffusion was first studied by the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde in late 19th century[3] and by German and Austrian anthropologists such as Friedrich Ratzel and Leo Frobenius.[4] The study of diffusion of innovations took off in the subfield of rural sociology in the midwestern United States in the 1920s and 1930s.
In 1962 Everett Rogers, a professor of rural sociology, published his seminal work: Diffusion of Innovations. Rogers synthesized research from over 508 diffusion studies across the fields that initially influenced the theory: anthropology, early sociology, rural sociology, education, industrial sociology and medical sociology. Breaking the Mold: An Educational Perspective on Diffusion of Innovation/Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations. By Ritushree Chatterjee When discussing Roger’s Diffusion of Innovations, many have wondered how Roger’s model would apply in today’s information age.
What relevance does the Diffusion of Innovation model have in today’s information age? The information age is signified by the instant access to information, more stress on self-reliance, not bound by any geographic boundaries. Do we still have a strong sense of belonging to a community, the origin of the Diffusion of Innovation? Are we bothered by sanctions by the community? Is our value system influenced by the community?
Innovation and adoption have become mundane words in our fast paced technologically savvy lives. Diffusion[edit] Rogers (Rogers, 2005, p. 5) defines diffusion as "the process in which an innovation is communicated though certain channels over time among the members of a social system. " Four Elements of Diffusion of Innovation[edit] Innovation[edit] What is innovation? Communication Channels[edit] Time[edit] Complexity[edit] Detailed Review of Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations Theory. Implementation in Schools (a Case Study) Diffusion Theory in Education (a Dissertation) "Rogers' diffusion theory in education: The implementation and sustain" by Vernon F Fisher.
Vernon F Fisher, University of Nebraska - Lincoln Abstract This qualitative case study examined how teachers implement and sustain innovations introduced through staff development programs. The subjects in the study, six high school teachers, participated in a staff development program to improve reading comprehension across the content areas. Rogers' Diffusion Theory was used as a conceptual model to understand how teachers implement the innovations they had learned. ^ Rogers attempted to explain how people acquired new knowledge, how they implement new knowledge, and how new knowledge becomes sustained practice over time. To describe this process, Rogers created the model he called the innovation decision process. Subject Area Education, Administration|Education, Teacher Training|Education, Curriculum and Instruction Recommended Citation.