INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM: EDUCATION

Introduction
The education system need to change in order to meet the demand of 21st century. The
learning process need to change in order to develop the knowledge and skills that support the
working environment. Promoting creativity and incentivizing innovations through our
educational institutions is a first step towards broadening and deepening the impact of
innovations in our society and economy (National Innovation council, India). The education that
we own at college and school just limit in the theory, there is no any practical uses of these
theory even there is related with work but we never read by transforming these theory in
practical uses. There are so many people who had excellent college and school career even they
scored distinction but they never become self-motivated towards work, they are not able to use
their study in real life work. This is reality. So there is high gap between what we read and what
we do. The environment is changing so fast and there is high pressure of technology, economics
which drives innovation process. The continuous innovation is going on the education system in
order to improve education system. The student should be lifelong learner and they must adopt
different working condition. The ultimate goal of doing innovation on education system is to
give practical knowledge to student. Without having practical knowledge, I believe that student
will not able to work hard, the new idea will not generate, people will not become active and
hence there will be no any innovation takes place in other area.

“Educational transformations are always the result and the symptom of social
transformations in terms of which they are to be explained. In order for people to feel at any
particular moment in time the need to change its educational system, it is necessary that new
ideas and needs have emerged in which the former system is no longer adequate.” (Durkheim,
1938). The education system are most important area where innovation should takes place in
continuous basis. It helps a student to be creativity. It build up the creative thinking skills and
motivate student to be more innovative at work place

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Pressure on education system

Things are changing around us very dramatically, very quickly. The world is becoming
more interconnected, the environment is becoming less stable, and technology is continuously
altering our relationship to information. Changing global conditions demand that we rethink
what, but even more important, how and where we learn. We need education for the 21st century
(Innovation Unit). There is high debate in the curriculum that school and college follow and the
kinds of assessment and kind of changes to pedagogy. The national policy always focusing on to
improve the curriculum structure and the role of facilitator like teacher. The Nepal government
has formulate an education curriculum rule such that the colleges or school have to upgrade their
curriculum at least once in a five years.

The globalization forces to make a changes in education system. The education system
that we reading in Nepal is different from the education system in USA. For a many year the
educational institute here we like to call school is design to give an education that support the
local economy, and they will work under the national policy. But today we are so connected with
other national and their working culture. The old day education system will not able to support a
current demand. Student need to adopt different working environment culture at any corner of
the world. Furthermore today student are moving from one place to another for education. And
to support their requirement there is novation is necessary in education system.

Along with the introduction of digital world, innovation is needed. The way we
communicate with each other is changing very much faster. The learning process is changing day
to day and we able to learn the course of America through online. Online portal helps a reader to
know new things that is happening in the other corner of the world. The major tools that brings
innovation in education system is digital network.

With rapid advances in new technologies, changing needs of the economy, and the very
presence of the challenges, the system itself presents a fertile ground for pioneering innovations.
The innovation must support the requirement of market. In Nepal there have been series of
innovation takes place from last 5 years that will be discuss at later chapter. The competitor
forces also force the education system of one school to change from other and this process will
continue last long.

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The innovation funnel illustrate how goals, action, team and result interact with each
other to deliver the innovation in the organization. The well define goal leads an organization
and direct all the action to the result. Education innovation summit is one of the program that
summarize and make plan policy to make innovation in education area.

This paper try to explore the innovation funnel in the field of education and I will try to
explore the innovation action and result that is takes place in education area.

The main goal of innovation is to improve outcomes like quality of education, to create
learning environment, to manage the knowledge through an alteration of practices. There are
number of different strategies that need to take to take changes like training available to
educator, forming different group in school, by using technology, by reeving the curriculum.
There are number of community involve in education field and innovation should overcome their
problem such that the education system need to change to need the demand of market. The
school environment and their learning environment impact most in the quality of education.

Educational institutions are organized on many levels, from the individual classroom
under the management of a single teacher, to groups of classrooms supervised by a Head
Teacher. Teaching is a process of exchanging the information and any communication method
that serve this purpose without destroying the objective is innovative activity in education. The
school needs to explore possibility on innovation in education. The goals of education innovation
are:

 To improve the quality of education

 To strengthen governance
 To create a learning environment and interactive classroom
 To proper management of information and knowledge and to share knowledge among
group.

Today market is knowledge economy market and to foster innovation and to make radical or
increment innovation certain action are desire. It can be lead through the government, education
forum, school as well from individual teacher and student. The government can change whole
plan and policy of education to make changes in the curriculum, the whole school environment
can change their practices policy and culture may be needed to change to foster the innovation.

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Individual school can changes their policy like size of student in class, class time, and cost
effectiveness to support new idea. I will describe different action and their result in coming
chapter.

There is quote “I hear I forget, I see I believe, I do and I understand”. The traditional
method of teaching is no more interactive. Teaching in classroom is “one way flow” of
information. The material presented is only based on lecturer notes and textbook. There is
insufficient interaction with students in classroom. The teacher gives more emphasis on theory
without any practical and real life time situations. So the student are getting so many difficult in
the real practical job. This major problem forces education system to change. But things has been
change, now multimedia learning process is adopted by many school.

More school focusing on entrepreneurship education where student need to assess their
knowledge differently. They deliver the subject-based skills (know-what and know-how), Skills
in thinking and creativity (critical thinking, imagination, curiosity) and Behavioural and social
skills (self-confidence, energy, passion, leadership, collaboration, communication). It helps a
student to be creative and this innovation i.e. entrepreneurship education result radical change
in thinking of student and this also driving innovation in another sector.

Prakash Nair discuss 30 strategies for educational innovation each strategy is linked to one
or more of three categories - pedagogy, organization and non-academic. He discuss about
teaching methods that need to adopt and function of school administration. Lifelong learning
strategies and leadership skills helps to develop innovative action. Some of strategies that school
can adopt to drive innovation are:

Personalization, small school learning approach, cooperative learning, and project based
learning, Team approach, global connection and business partnership, technology implement,
non-academic extra curriculum, outdoor learning, and internship

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Innovation in Education
As we discuss above there is currently wide gap the world of education and the world of
work. There is widespread unemployment; yet the company are not able to fill their vacancies.
There is lag on education system. Every year more and more graduates are being produced, but
few are well-equipped for rapidly changing economies and most of them are not able to work in
real field. Most of the schools and college feel that the education system that they are providing
is not adding the value of the student work. They found out their student are not able to find out
respective position in the market. Now they are in the changing phase. Yet more innovation i.e.
incremental innovation and radical innovation are coming in the field of education. There are
number of innovation that has been taken places in education filed and it has been implemented
success fully in different colleges. My work try to find out some of these innovation and impact
of innovation in education system.

Policy and master plan:

The Government of Nepal (GON), Ministry of Education (MOE) has introduced
Education for All (EFA) National Plan of Action/NPA (2001-2015), Three Year Plan (2011-
2013) and School Sector Reform Plan/SSRP (2009-2015) have identified some of the strategies
to ensure equitable access to education.

The vision of the Master Plan is to ensure extensive use of ICT in education sector and
contribute for access to and quality of education for all.

MOE has implemented some of the programs related to ICT in Education. They are: one
Laptop per Child (OLPC) pilot project in selected 26 schools of six districts; Lab model
(computer sharing mechanism) Project in some schools and Internet connectivity to District
Education Offices (DEOs) and schools (through matching fund to schools) and computer labs
with internet connection from local ISPs. Similarly, Central Level Agencies under MOE, five
Regional Directorates (REDs) and 75 District Education Offices have lunched their web sites.
Department of Education (DOE), with the involvement of some NGOs, has developed interactive
digital learning materials for the students of grades 2 to 6 in Nepali, Mathematics, English and
Science subjects (Goverment of Nepal : Ministry of Education, 2013).

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Some policy instrument are:

Educational research

Educational development

Curriculum development

Assessment

Performance/ result measurement

Educational information system / Knowledge management system

School management

Furthermore the MOE has updated their curriculum, Basic computer skills such as Word
Processors, Spreadsheet Application, Database Management, Email and the Internet Application
study material are include in their curriculum. This is continuous innovation taking place in the
educational system of Nepal. Teacher are involving in various training and field visit to improve
their knowledge. The GON separate every year the certain percentage of budget in the title under
skill upgrading program for teacher.

New environment for learning:

In old days, we assume that attendance at school is a prerequisite for learning. We focus
on what we read in the text book. Nowadays most of the school develop innovative learning
environment. The exchange of information between teacher and student is increasing. Most of
the school have free internet access and large amount of data is available in systematic way. We
are now able to excess information within a second, more ever schools are developing different
club that will organize the different program. School develops knowledge management system to
manage the information and knowledge. That helps student to be innovative. The school run
different workshop, make attendance in international seminar to help student to learn more. The
school is no more long school it’s a place of innovation. The classroom is no more class room
it’s a place of idea generation.

For example the online course. With the development of online course we are able to
learn curriculum and syllabus of USA in king’s college. With the help of internet and local

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teacher as well as under the facilitator, we able to attend the course. From the ever corner of the
world where there is access of internet we can learn. It’s creating new virtual environment of
learning. The innovation taking in delivering process helps us to know new things.

Another example is seminar and guest speaker. Now days most of the schools are
bringing the expertise to share their knowledge and experience among the student. The process
how school teach, is changing. They are not only focus on class teaching method. They focusing
on different sources of learning. Multiple media class room are made to ensure the better access
of information. For example the king’s college establish the pathway center which is dedicated
to offering comprehensive, individualized guidance and support to assist students as they identify
and achieve their academic, personal and professional goals. There is communication center also.
The main aim of establish these center in colleges is to create new environment for learning.

We can view khan Academy as disruptive technology in education sector. The extensive
catalog of lessons and tools for students, teachers and coaches available for free on the Khan
Academy site. Furthermore we can find his lecture in YouTube for free. It helps a student to do
their assessments and it increase their knowledge. Disruptive innovation was unleashed with the
ecosystem of the Silicon Valley behind it to deliver educational content in a high scale, low cost
model while providing a deeply interactive experience to learners akin to one-on-one tutoring.
Offering a parallel online version free to anyone. 160,000 students in 190 countries enrolled
(Skoll World Forum, 2013).

Curriculum
The incremental innovation is taking place in curriculum. The syllabus that we are
learning is quite different from syllabus that has been learned before 2 years. According to the
demand of the market, the school are adding the chapter in the book and colleges also adding the
reference book. The curriculum doesn’t limit on the text book, now days we are being referring
to read various case studies from around the world. We can us various book and online blogs.
The video also useful for our study. Hence curriculum are changing faster and new chapter are
adding each year. Today teachers not only prefer the book they uses different video and cases to
teach. They are not only teacher but also learner. Sharing knowledge helping both to be
innovative.

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For example the Midas production in Nepal develop the multimedia Book in compact
disc. They develop a friendly and easy way that transform knowledge to student. It changes the
learning process of student. Most of the school also adopt this system to teach student.

Technology vs. education:

The continuous innovation taking place in technology driving the innovation in education
field. Steve Felice, Dell’s president and chief commercial officer said “Adults would like to see
technology more integrated into learning. And, perhaps most importantly, many teachers do not
feel as comfortable as their students do in using technology.” Now days student are free to use
the technology in classes and they can learn through it. Most of the college are building ICT, MIS
infrastructure, knowledge management system, in the college premises so that student can easily
learn what they want, technology allows them to create a more personalized learning experience.
Digital learning helping student to increase their knowledge.

For example most of the colleges like our king’s college give a student the access of
internet. There are 24 hours internet access and we can use personal laptop or desktop in lab to
connect with external world. The latest innovation that colleges invented is distributing the
knowledge through social media. Facebook in education, twitter in education, Google in
education, cellphones in education, personal network learning are some of innovative action
taken place in education area. The student open their group and them able to share their view and
knowledge with other friend. These increase their competencies.

Other innovation in education is uses of clouding storage. Most of the college put their
curriculum and assignment in the G- drive, One drive or other clouding software where student
have access to the document and they are able to download and read. They can also able to
submit the assignment through online. They can use email or clouding software for submitting it.
These uses of technology avoid the physical meeting of teacher and student. That saves more
time and cost but it will increase the knowledge of both. There are many software that helps to
exchange the information.

Other latest technology innovation that we see in our college is JASTRO.org. The student
of college, using the internet of college are able to access to JASTRO. Org. there is number of
softcopy book and article which is downloadable. It helps a student to know more. By

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introducing these innovation in college, student getting benefit of it and we are learning more.
Such that the process of delivering and exacting the information is changing and colleges are
developing new innovative idea to ensure the student will get more and more informative
knowledge.

Educational tool
The tool that is using for teaching for so long time is white board and marker. The teacher
uses the white board and gives a hardcopy note to the student but the time is changing. Yet
school using the white board also they use softcopy for more elaboration. The teacher makes
slides of chapter and display it in the white board through projector. Hence it saves time and
makes easy to understand. Class becomes more interactive and school focusing on real work
environment. This helps the student and teacher to communicate well. The duster has been
innovate product recently. We see there is place to put marker in the backside of duster.

Evaluation criteria examination system

The other innovation sector in education system is evaluation criteria. In old days final
exam determine the whole year education of student. But now days it has been change. In the
school there is 3-4 exam in a year and its performance is added in the final exam. The evaluation
criteria become so complex but it increase the competences of student.

For exam in king’s college the final grade is determine by various variable like student
performance in class, their attendance, midterm exam, assignment and final exam. There is so
many variable which determine student’s grade. Hence it force student to be innovative in every
sector. They have to manage their routine in whole curriculum phase.

Now days most of the school focus on group discussion on topic. They focus on
collective decision making that enable them to make a best decision and effective one for their
career future. They make involve student in various practical research. The research is
mandatory for every student for completion of bachelor master and PhD degree. Most of the
school arrange their student as paid internship as there they can learn the real working
environment and working culture. To support all these extra activity and new creative thinking
most of the school develop their center within the school. Faculty and students are committed to
seeking deep interconnections among theory, research, and practice.

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Conclusion

Now days most of the school are building and are taking advantage of the full range of
innovations available, incorporating technology in curriculum planning and delivery, classroom
management, teacher training and parent communication to create new models for providing
excellent education. The innovation taking place must be based on the interests and goals of
each student; curriculum must be relevant to market and learning environment must be create.
Most of the college focusing on learning that starts from questions and projects, not knowledge
of curriculum. The best education systems need for today are highly collaborative, very
personalized, and often use pervasive technology.

The education system of eastern and western are very different. In eastern there are more
radical innovation taken place and they are supporting online distance learning than class room
teaching method. They develop their curriculum that match the real work of education, they do
practical along with theory learning at college. Also in western they are number of incremental
innovation taken place. With advancement of technology innovation are taking in education
system. Policy are being made, curriculum are being updated, distance learning is increasing,
new collaborate learning environment is created and many more. Education system are more
innovative area and must produce the skilled manpower and the new knowledge requisite for
technological advancement and economic growth. The above discussed innovative idea changing
the whole education system, innovative idea on educations system focus to improve teaching
quality that can achieve by training, improve curriculum, assessment and leadership.

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Durkheim, E. (1938). The evolution of educational thought Lectures on the formation and
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Goverment of Nepal : Ministry of Education. (2013, March). Information and Communication

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http://www.innovationunit.org/knowledge/our-ideas/21st-century-learning

Nair, P., & Designshare.com. (2008). 30 Strategies for Educational Innovation. (J. Sampson,
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National Innovation council, India. (n.d.). Initiatives: Innovation in education. Retrieved from
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Skoll World Forum. (2013, 7 4). Education Finally Ripe For Radical Innovation By Social
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