How Siebert, Johnson, and Davidson’s Readings Reveal the Effectiveness of Innovation and New Perspectives

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How Siebert, Johnson, and Davidson’s Readings Reveal the Effectiveness of Innovation and New Perspectives
Sometimes, normal is boring and cannot facilitates creativity and innovation that is required to solve various problems in society. Cathy Davidson’s “Project Classroom Makeover” shows how considering all technological contributions aired by relevant stakeholders can foster innovation in the education system. Although many people prefer doing things in a particular routine, mainly the top-bottom hierarchy, sometimes people at the bottom are the ones who have appropriate ideas or solutions to different issues. That is the reason why Steven Johnson’s “The Myth of the Ant Queen” portrays the effectiveness of the “bottom-up learning.” Additionally, Charles Siebert’s “An Elephant Crackup?” depicts that “fundamental shift” is the most appropriate strategy that can rebalance the power dynamics between elephants and humans. By using Davidson, Johnson, and Siebert’s readings, the paper reveals how innovation and new perspectives can be used to solve various problems or improve people’s lives in society.
Davidson shows that universities and colleges can implement an effective educational system if technological innovations were utilized, and input from students was at the forefront of learning. Indeed, when Duke University made a deal with Apple Inc. to use iPods as academic devices, many people, including educators and students, perceived as if the institution was misled. Besides, iPods were known as music-listening gadgets for young people. Davidson says, “It is an unnecessarily expensive toy that does not become an academic tool simply because it is thrown into a classroom” (Davidson 61). At this point, the author shows how individuals were discontented and did not believe that iPods can be used as academic gadgets since they were made for music and entertainment. However, things changed for the better when educators allowed students to share their knowledge about how iPods can be used for different purposes. In reality, the iPod experiment was significantly criticized because it was against the traditional education system where educators were the ones who determined what students should do in the class. When Duke University’s students were given a chance to show how they can use iPods in learning, everyone was surprised by their creativity. The author asserts that “Working together, and often alongside their profs, they came up with far more learning apps for their iPods than anyone – even at Apple – had dreamed possible” (Davidson 66). For example, learners downloaded audio materials that were relevant to their studies and recorded lectures so that they can listen during their leisure time. Most importantly, crowdsourcing enabled them to share learning materials with other students from other educational institutions.
Educational institutions can be reorganized in a bottom-up fashion to improve their effectiveness in nurturing young people. Johnson’s “The Myth of the Ant Queen” portrays how ant colonies operate s...