Change may come about because it is imposed on us.

Or, we may voluntarily participate in or initiate change when we find something significantly wrong in our current situation. The personal and collective experience of change is characterized by uncertainty, anxiety, and struggle. If it works out, it can result in a sense of mastery, accomplishment, and professional growth. Change is to become different, it is to make (someone or something) different. Educational change is a broad term that refers to both shifting paradigms within education and efforts of reform within education. The former is often a part of the latter, since most change within the field of education is initiated for the improvement of the institution. Similarly, shifting perspectives within the field of education are most often a result of an awareness of new ideas and new needs. The efforts taken to adjust to those new ideas and meet those needs can be categorized as educational change. According to a study conducted by educational researcher Robert Marzano, there are two kinds of educational change. First-order change refers to any surface level change that is a response to new ideas. In this level of change the response as well as the new ideas must fit into the current conceptual framework within education. If it does not, the change is rejected in favor of maintaining the current framework. This change does not drive reform as it is only accepted if it is compatible with accepted norms. Second-order change refers to what more closely resembles reform and actual change within the field. It concerns itself with the accepted norms and current conceptual framework but works with those for change rather than change to those norms. The current paradigm is part of the change process, but compatibility with it does not determine the success of the change. What is reform? Reform is the progressive change from one set of ideas and practice to another. It is sometimes relegated to historical events that take place over time. Reform is measured by the growth or decline of a social construct. It a change that is intended to correct a situation that is wrong or unfair, or make a system work more effectively. What is School Reform? Many schools are currently in the process of going through what is known as school reform or education reform. Changes in the schools policies are now being considered due to new demands that are coming from social, economic and technological forces. These demands are being made on what the students need to know and learn in order to be successful. It is important to understand what education and school reform are, and what they mean for the children and the local schools. This will help to understand the improvements that are being made to the education system in the community. Parents should keep in mind that parental participation is an important part when it comes to successful reform of schools and education, especially when they consider that the education reform process is going to affect both the children in school and their parents as well.

What is Education Reform or School Reform? The first thing to know is that both terms are generally used for the same purpose. Education reform is an umbrella term or a catch phrase that incorporates a wide range of different policies and programs into the education system. Reforms are typically designed to make changes to some rule or some procedure that is affecting the way that the school operates. Terms such as renewal and reform are meant to be thought of as bringing about small steps in the direction of change. Compared to the concept of school restructuring, it is important to realize that renewal and reform do not make great changes to the organization of the school, but rather its policies and its programs instead. If schools in the area are going through the renewal or reform process, then it is time for the stakeholder as a parent to get involved in the process so that they can have a say in their childs education. When it comes to school reform and education reform, it is important to know that there are basically two distinct forms of school reform, and each has a different impact on the school, the students and the education that is provided. The first type of school reform is specifically related to the subject matter and the teaching methods for the school and the second is related to the governance procedures and the administration of the school. Types of School Reform The type of reform that is specifically related to the subject matter and the teaching methods for the school is going to affect what the children are taught as well as how they are taught within the classroom. Some of the most common types of reforms include back to basics, whole language instruction, concept based mathematics, using computers and other technology in the classroom and stressing the multicultural influence on literature and history for example. Curriculum guides are constantly being developed that exist to describe what all students should be able to do and should know in order to be successful in school and life. The type of reform that is related to the governance procedures and the administration of the school is going to affect how the school is managed as well as what types of roles the administrators and the teachers will play. Decision making based on site, shared leadership and programs for community involvement are all examples of school and education reform that involve governance procedures and school administration. Education reform of this magnitude is capable of being started from the powers inside the school or outside of the school depending on what the schools needs are. For example, policymakers in the government may launch school reform, and policymakers inside the school may also launch their own programs for education reform. What Is Innovation? An invention is useful only to the inventor unless it is offered to the public, however niche that public may be. If the invention improves some product, process or service for the public, then that invention transforms into an innovation.

An innovation can be big or small. Brand-new or just a bit different, it doesn't matter. An innovation can be clearly complex or seemingly simple. Innovations are often thought of in terms of technical achievement, but can also be a design. The type, industry and style of innovation are irrelevant; an innovation's impact determines its qualification. The presence of a genius can help with innovation it may speed up the end result by having a person who can see and make the future happen. However, innovation is more than the work of any one "Einstein." Innovation involves the taking of the work of an individual (or team) of inventors and taking it to a broader audience. The future of many businesses depends upon their ability to innovate. Competition is fierce. Knowledge spreads quickly. The ability of a company to not only keep up with its current business practices, but to exceed its own and its competition's expectations are critical to survival. What do you understand an innovation to be? An innovation is the new use or application of existing technology for a completely different purpose from which it was originally used or intended. This is not a dictionary definition, it is a re-worded dictionary definition to make it more understandable. Look up the term innovation in a dictionary to get a more technical definition. Let's look at a very simple example of innovation that you probably haven't even thought of as an innovation: Liquid Paper Liquid Paper In its simplest and most basic original form, Liquid Paper is white paint in a nail polish bottle. Think about it: Bette Nesmith Graham was not a very good secretary. In the days before Liquid Paper, the only way to correct a typing mistake was to either start all over again, or to erase it with a special eraser. The eraser actually didn't do that good a job, the paper would tear easily as it was a fairly harsh eraser. Bette Nesmith Graham ended up starting again a lot. One day, while watching painters touching up mistakes in their paint work, she had a thought: What if I applied some white paint over the mistake with a small brush, then I could cover up my typing mistakes. From there Liquid Paper was born.

Nine key elements present in successful industrial innovations are: 1. Identifying a market opportunity: If you are not going to be able to sell it to consumers because they don't need it, then you may not be successful. 2. Obtaining and managing resources: You must be able to access resources such as people, money, knowledge and facilities. These resources must be managed, so that they don't run out, especially when you need them the most.

3. Research and development: Research as described above, covers many facets. Maybe, there is a need for historical research to see what has been done before. You don't want to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes there are actually some great ideas that you can get from history but the technology of the time didn't allow for the innovation to be fully realised. For example, some of Leonardo Da Vinci's designs for submarines and helicopters remained as fairly eccentric ideas for many years. Maybe there is a need for materials research or market research. Research is something that is on-going. It is part of the development process of the product. To keep a product in the public eye it needs to be regularly revised and improved, for example, Liquid Paper has been improved with new solvents so that it dries faster, thinners are sold separately, different methods of application such as pens, tape and different colours are available. 4. Protecting intellectual property: The main things that need to be protected are the design, the name, the logo, any new materials or methods and any artwork or textwork. This could be as simple as applying for a patent, a trade mark or a copyright. Different things are protected in different ways, so you may need all three. Copyright protects the written word, patents protect the workings and trademarks protect logos and the way in which names are written etc. 5. Product design: How does the product look? Is it functional? Does it look good? Does it work? In some cases looks are not as important as the function, in other cases, looks are more important. For example, a chair may be quite beautiful to look at but if it isn't comfortable then it is not very effective for its intended function. 6. Obtaining supplies: Can you maintain a regular and consistent supply of raw materials and keep the costs the same? Consumers are happy if prices go down in the future, but are more hesitant to buy if the price increases. As materials become more high-tech, are they worth substituting? Does increased production warrant the implementation of expensive high-tech machinery? 7. Manufacture: Computer technology has changed the way machines operate. The use of computer based technologies means that products can be produced faster and with greater consistency. But consider this, are small product runs still done best with traditional machines? 8. Promotion: Before any product can be sold, the public needs to know of its existence. It may need the help of a promotions company or an advertising campaign to achieve wider consumer awareness and marketplace presence. 9. Distribution, sales and service: Once everybody knows how great the product is, the manufacturer needs to ensure that the product is available in the shops in regular and reliable supply, the quality is consistent and that consumers can have their questions answered and problems solved should they arise. These nine key elements form the basis of the innovation cycle, a continuous interactive cycle with each element interacting with each other and leading on to another.

Innovation cycle

Six factors critical to the success of a new innovation are: 1. Effort and risk: Consistent and focused effort is essential. All problems need to be solved as they arise to minimise the delay in ongoing development of the product. Innovators need to be conscious of the risks involved in pursuing the development of their product, including financial and personal strain. 2. Managing all the elements of industrial innovation: All of the nine key elements must be continually addressed either by the individual or company or by experts or consultants paid for their expertise. 3. Seeking out sources of innovation: Innovation is not confined to manufacture, for example, new machines and materials. It may be necessary to be innovative in financial dealings, in packaging or promoting the product. The innovation doesn't have to stop once the design is complete. It is an ongoing process. 4. Integration of all elements in industrial innovation: The nine key elements continually impact on each other. As one element changes, so will the status of the others. Care must be taken to assess each proposed change and to see how it impacts on other aspects of the innovation before firm decisions are made.

5. Continuing improvements: The product must change and improve to stay fresh in the consumer's eyes. Rival products may steal your market away. The Dyson range of vacuum cleaners is a good example of ongoing innovation. 6. Sustained investment: This is not only in the form of money, but also as time, knowledge, staff training, equipment etc. Most innovations which are successful over time have a substantial investment made in terms of time, finances, energy and determination. Factors affecting innovation Some other factors to consider if you want your innovation to be successful and you want to be able to expand your markets overseas:

Political: These are things to do with governments. Is there an existing trade agreement between our countries? Do we have a policy which might contradict theirs? For example, the use of some food additives. Are our labelling laws the same for things like product safety? Are we speaking to them at the moment, that is, does Australia have a good relationship with the country? For example, when the French were testing nuclear weapons in the South Pacific the reaction to French products was very negative. Economic: These are things to do with finances and money. Is the product going to be financially beneficial to the country? For example, with Dynamic Lifter the farmers get better crops using an organic fertiliser. Will there be a creation or loss of several jobs in one industry yet the creation or loss of jobs in another as a result? Cultural: These are things to do with the beliefs, customs and religion of other countries, for example, the live export of sheep to the Middle East is influenced by cultural beliefs. Sales of swimwear to this market are less likely to be successful due to cultural beliefs. Sometimes a product needs to be renamed as a word that is appropriate in one language is inappropriate in another, for example, the Pajero 4WD vehicle needed to be renamed for sale in South America. Sometimes a designer may like a particular traditional ethnic pattern and use it on their product, only to find that it is religious text or sacred. Legal: Is the product safe for use? Could there be litigation as a result of injury or poor performance? Are labelling laws strictly adhered to, for example, in terms of standards, or content listings etc. Has any part of the design been stolen? Is the design properly protected by patents etc? Environmental: Is the manufacturing process going to pollute or destroy the natural surroundings? Is the product going to do this? Will it benefit the environment? A product or manufacturing process can even do both. Is the raw material endangered, for example, some rainforest timbers? Ethical: Does the product do what it claims? Has the idea been stolen from someone else? Are the people who the product has been intended to assist, able to afford it?

Timing: The time of year a product hits the market can be crucial to its success. Notice the must haves that hit the market in time for Mothers' Day, Fathers' Day and Christmas. Why do toys hit the market in time for the school holidays? Videos and movies are released then too.

Entrepreneurial activity: Sometimes there is the need for someone outside the design group to help bring the product to the market, for example, someone with the contacts, money, know how and experience in that industry. Sometimes an idea needs to be sold to a larger company as they have the resources to bring it to the market and keep it on the market. Dynamic Lifter is now owned by Yates. Sometimes it is as simple as the designer no longer has the energy nor the means to keep going and sell the idea to someone else that can. Other times, it is because they just can't afford to do it by themselves.

"Real" Innovation does not happen haphazardly or sporadically within organizations. "Real" Innovation is accomplished consistently and systematically, given the true voice of the customer and a process for delivering solutions. Companies that innovate successfully do so using an efficient and repeatable methodology. Success is not dependent upon genius it emerges from the disciplined application of a proven innovation methodology. What is KRA? KRA is the set of activities on which performances are rated.

KRAs are key result areas which are the main objectives of the employee in an organization. Key result areas or KRAs refer to general areas of outcomes or outputs for which a role is responsible. KRAs are also known as key work outputs

Process individual determine the KRAs of their roles:

They list their main day to day responsibilities/activities. They review the answers to their why questions, looking for common themes or areas. For each activity, they ask why do I do this? They identify their KRAs from these themes. They share their KRAs, preferably with those they report to, those they work along with, and those who report to them.

KRAs prepared should be:

Specific KRAs should be specific and should make sense. Measurable KRAs should be measurable. Achievable KRAs framed should be achievable. Related to job KRAs should be related to job. Time bound KRAs framed should be defined for a specific period.

Identifying KRAs helps individuals

Clarify their roles. Set goals and objectives. Focus on results rather than activities. Align their roles to the organizations business or strategic plan. Prioritize their activities, and therefore improve their time/work management Communicate their roles purposes to others Make value-added decisions

Individual Implementation:

Develop specific goals and objectives, and plans to reach them. Take control of their time/work management strategies Work with those they report to, those they work along with, and those who report to them to identify their kras so all on a team have clarity regarding outputs.

Scope

Deliverables. Measurement matrix. Performance revisal. Acceptance. KRA really helps to get hr thinking strategically.

Jerry Mechlings Five Steps in Educational Reform Over time, innovation is what makes most human endeavors better and more productive, and over the past 50 years the big changes have largely been enabled by information technologies. That's clearly true for most medical procedures, many police investigations, certainly the biological sciences and computing itself. But, what about education? It has been the prototypical victim of Baumol's "cost disease," where productivity lags because the process doesn't yield to new technologies. As a result, while a Civil War doctor entering a hospital today wouldn't know where to begin, the Civil War teacher would be rather at home in most of today's classrooms. Despite mind-boggling growth in computer capabilities, teachers remain the "sage on the stage," not "the guide on the side." We're on the cusp of breakthrough educational reconfigurations, however. We're dissatisfied with our overall educational performance; we can't remain a leading society when our students score lower on globally administered tests than 30 or so other nations. Regardless of whether our public educational institutions want to change, they'll have to. What's different now is that almost all governments are under enormous cost pressures and demographics ensure that these pressures won't go away.

But this pressure can be a positive catalyst for change, and we need to coalesce around a productive way forward. With that in mind, consider the following five-point, technologyenabled plan: 1. Measure results to learn what works and hold the system accountable. The No Child Left Behind movement gave us a start, with standardized tests for students and publicly reported aggregates for schools. But measurement must now be extended to teacher value-added measures, which offer a much better way to understand what's working and hold teachers properly accountable -- even while adjusting for factors beyond teachers' control. What gets measured gets improved.

2. Harvest the growing development of intelligent teaching materials. After years of starts and stops, we're on the cusp of generating teaching materials that use computer-assisted interactivity to aid study and learning, and don't just present reading material in electronic form. In the early 1960s, B.F. Skinner was touting "teaching machines" that gave him better feedback on what his students did and did not understand, so he could revise the flow and present the material more effectively. While students, of course, learn from the teacher, much of the mental work involved in learning comes from thinking about teaching materials and interacting with other students. 3. Deliver more content through virtual classrooms and schools. Internet-delivered education offers enormous economies of customization and scale. Many school boards are finding that they can't afford the course variety they used to offer. Can't budget for Italian next year? How about giving credit for the version offered over the Internet by the statewide virtual high school? As with most disruptive technologies, virtual education won't initially be considered as good as the old model. But, it is a lot less expensive and, over time, it will improve. Clayton Christensen of the Harvard Business School predicts that in a few years as much as 25 percent of K-12 credits will be delivered through this back-door channel. 4. Offer academic certification as an independent service. Where is the state university system that will provide a degree to anyone who can pass their tests, regardless of whether the students took their courses at the university? We need more rigorous academic certification to make the economy work better, especially when workers and jobs shift as often as they do today. While clearly not perfect, the SAT and ACT scores provide a much more objective basis for admitting students into colleges than we had before. We need similar measures of performance to build demand for innovative education and to guide job allocation decisions throughout the economy. 5. Bring practitioners into lifelong learning networks. In a world of complex jobs and careers we need to help students find the mentors and connections they need to gain real-world value from their education. Some schools have long touted their lifelong networks. For example, many think that Harvard classrooms aren't that exciting, but that the Harvard "network" is of enormous value. It is now cost-effective to use computer technologies to bring practitioners into

classrooms, with benefit to practitioners as continuing education and to students as a much better window into the real world and careers. As with the boy who cried wolf, it may be hard for many of us to believe that real education reform is now possible. Opposition from many teachers and their unions will clearly be both an obstacle and a moral challenge. But for many innovations, the third or fourth time has been the charm. Our educational institutions are in pain and a critical mass of pressure and possibility is now at hand. Success with educational innovation would clearly have a huge impact on parents, school boards, teachers and teacher unions, curriculum developers, employers, and the larger economy and society -- and, of course, the students. Diffusion of Innovations is a theory of how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures. The concept was first studied by the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde (1890) and by German and Austrian anthropologists such as Friedrich Ratzel and Leo Frobenius. Its basic epidemiological or internal-influence form was formulated by H. Earl Pemberton, who provided examples of institutional diffusion such as postage stamps and compulsory school laws. History Diffusion of innovation theory seeks to explain the spread of new ideas. First developed in the early 1950s using research in rural sociology, it continues to be widely used. Rogers proposed 4 main elements that influence the spread of a new idea: the innovation, communication channels, time, and a social system. That is, diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. Individuals progress through 5 stages: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. If the innovation is adopted, it spreads via various communication channels. During communication, the idea is rarely evaluated from a scientific standpoint; rather, subjective perceptions of the innovation influence diffusion. The process occurs over time. Finally, social systems determine diffusion, norms on diffusion, roles of opinion leaders and change agents, types of innovation decisions, and innovation consequences. To use Rogers model in health requires us to assume that the innovation in classical diffusion theory is equivalent to scientific research findings in the context of practice, an assumption that has not been rigorously tested. The origins of the diffusion of innovations theory are varied and span across multiple disciplines. Rogers identifies six main traditions that impacted diffusion research: anthropology, early sociology, rural sociology, education, industrial, and medical sociology. The diffusion of innovation theory has been largely influenced by the work of rural sociologists. In the book Diffusion of Innovations, Rogers synthesizes research from over 508 diffusion studies and produces a theory for the adoption of innovations among individuals and organization.

What qualities make innovations spread? Diffusion of Innovations takes a radically different approach to most other theories of change. Instead of focusing on persuading individuals to change, it sees change as being primarily about the evolution or reinvention of products and behaviours so they become better fits for the needs of individuals and groups. In Diffusion of Innovations it is not people who change, but the innovations themselves. Why do certain innovations spread more quickly than others? And why do others fail? Diffusion scholars recognise five qualities that determine the success of an innovation. 1) Relative advantage This is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes by a particular group of users, measured in terms that matter to those users, like economic advantage, social prestige, convenience, or satisfaction. The greater the perceived relative advantage of an innovation, the more rapid its rate of adoption is likely to be. There are no absolute rules for what constitutes relative advantage. It depends on the particular perceptions and needs of the user group. 2) Compatibility with existing values and practices This is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as being consistent with the values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters. An idea that is incompatible with their values, norms or practices will not be adopted as rapidly as an innovation that is compatible. 3) Simplicity and ease of use This is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and use. New ideas that are simpler to understand are adopted more rapidly than innovations that require the adopter to develop new skills and understandings. 4) Trialability This is the degree to which an innovation can be experimented with on a limited basis. An innovation that is trialable represents less uncertainty to the individual who is considering it. 5) Observable results The easier it is for individuals to see the results of an innovation, the more likely they are to adopt it. Visible results lower uncertainty and also stimulate peer discussion of a new idea, as friends and neighbours of an adopter often request information about it. According to Everett Rogers, these five qualities determine between 49 and 87 percent of the variation in the adoption of new products. These five qualities make a valuable checklist to frame focus group discussions or project evaluations. They can help identify weaknesses to be

addressed when improving products or behaviours. I suspect, however, that three relative advantages are more influential than others: personal control, time saving and self-esteem. See the paper at Reinvention is a key principle in Diffusion of Innovations. The success of an innovation depends on how well it evolves to meet the needs of more and more demanding and risk-averse individuals in a population (the history of the mobile phone is a perfect example). A good way to achieve this is to make users into partners in a continuous process of redevelopment. Computer games companies, pharmaceutical corporations and rural research institutes are examples of organisations that seek to make users active partners in improving innovations by supporting user communities or by applying participative action research techniques. Many computer games are now built with the intention that they will be modified by enthusiastic users. Says consumer behaviour expert, Francine Gardin. Theyre actually participating in the design of the game. These consumers are really passionate about the game its almost like a cult. They have an incredible sense of loyalty and ownership of that brand. Instead of complaining, they fix the product. The concept of reinvention is important because it tells us that no product or process can rest on its laurels: continuous improvement is the key to spreading an innovation. Elements The key elements in diffusion research are: Element Innovation Communication channels Time Definition Rogers defines an innovation as "an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption". A communication channel is "the means by which messages get from one individual to another". "The innovation-decision period is the length of time required to pass through the innovation-decision process". "Rate of adoption is the relative speed with which an innovation is adopted by members of a social system". "A social system is defined as a set of interrelated units that are engaged in joint problem solving to accomplish a common goal".

Social system

Decisions Two factors determine what type a particular decision is : Whether the decision is made freely and implemented voluntarily, Who makes the decision.

Based on these considerations, three types of innovation-decisions have been identified within diffusion of innovations. Definition Type Optional Decision Collective Decision Authority Decision Mechanism Diffusion of an innovation occurs through a fivestep process. This process is a type of decision-making. It occurs through a series of communication channels over a period of time among the members of a similar social system. Ryan and Gross first indicated the identification of adoption as a process in 1943. Rogers categorizes the five stages (steps) as: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption. An individual might reject an innovation at any time during or after the adoption process. In later editions of the Diffusion of Innovations Rogers changes the terminology of the five stages to: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. However the descriptions of the categories have remained similar throughout the editions. Innovation- This decision is made by an individual who is in some way distinguished from others in a social system. InnovationThis decision is made collectively by all individuals of a social system. Innovation- This decision is made for the entire social system by few individuals in positions of influence or power.

Five stages of the adoption process Stage Knowledge Persuasion Definition In this stage the individual is first exposed to an innovation but lacks information about the innovation. During this stage of the process the individual has not been inspired to find more information about the innovation. In this stage the individual is interested in the innovation and actively seeks information/detail about the innovation. In this stage the individual takes the concept of the innovation and weighs the advantages/disadvantages of using the innovation and decides whether to adopt or reject the innovation. Due to the individualistic nature of this stage Rogers notes that it is the most difficult stage to acquire empirical evidence.

Decision

In this stage the individual employs the innovation to a varying degree Implementation depending on the situation. During this stage the individual determines the usefulness of the innovation and may search for further information about it. Although the name of this stage may be misleading, in this stage the individual Confirmation finalizes their decision to continue using the innovation and may use the innovation to its fullest potential.

Rates of adoption The rate of adoption is defined as: the relative speed with which members of a social system adopt an innovation. It is usually measured by the length of time required for a certain percentage of the members of a social system to adopt an innovation. The rates of adoption for innovations are determined by an individuals adopter category. In general individuals who first adopt an innovation require a shorter adoption period (adoption process) than late adopters. Within the rate of adoption there is a point at which an innovation reaches critical mass. This is a point in time within the adoption curve that enough individuals have adopted an innovation in order that the continued adoption of the innovation is self-sustaining. In describing how an innovation reaches critical mass, Rogers outlines several strategies in order to help an innovation reach this stage. These strategies are: have an innovation adopted by a highly respected individual within a social network, creating an instinctive desire for a specific innovation. Inject an innovation into a group of individuals who would readily use an innovation, and provide positive reactions and benefits for early adopters of an innovation. Characteristics Rogers defines several intrinsic characteristics of innovations that influence an individuals decision to adopt or reject an innovation. The relative advantage is how improved an innovation is over the previous generation. Compatibility is the second characteristic, the level of compatibility that an innovation has to be assimilated into an individuals life. The complexity of an innovation is a significant factor in whether it is adopted by an individual. If the innovation is

too difficult to use an individual will not likely adopt it. The fourth characteristic, trialability, determines how easily an innovation may be experimented with as it is being adopted. If a user has a hard time using and trying an innovation this individual will be less likely to adopt it. The final characteristic, observability, is the extent that an innovation is visible to others. An innovation that is more visible will drive communication among the individuals peers and personal networks and will in turn create more positive or negative reactions. Adopter categories Rogers defines an adopter category as a classification of individuals within a social system on the basis of innovativeness. In the book Diffusion of Innovations, Rogers suggests a total of five categories of adopters in order to standardize the usage of adopter categories in diffusion research. The adoption of an innovation follows an S curve when plotted over a length of time. The categories of adopters are: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards Adopter category Definition

Innovators are the first individuals to adopt an innovation. Innovators are willing to take risks, youngest in age, have the highest social class, have great financial Innovators lucidity, very social and have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction with other innovators. Risk tolerance has them adopting technologies which may ultimately fail. Financial resources help absorb these failures. This is the second fastest category of individuals who adopt an innovation. These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the other adopter categories. Early adopters are typically younger in age, have a higher social status, have more financial lucidity, advanced education, and are more socially forward than late adopters. More discrete in adoption choices than innovators. Realize judicious choice of adoption will help them maintain central communication position. Individuals in this category adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time. This time of adoption is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters. Early Majority tend to be slower in the adoption process, have above average social status, contact with early adopters, and seldom hold positions of opinion leadership in a system. Individuals in this category will adopt an innovation after the average member of the society. These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted the innovation. Late Majority are typically skeptical about an innovation, have below average social

Early Adopters

Early Majority

Late Majority

Laggards

status, very little financial lucidity, in contact with others in late majority and early majority, very little opinion leadership. Individuals in this category are the last to adopt an innovation. Unlike some of the previous categories, individuals in this category show little to no opinion leadership. These individuals typically have an aversion to change-agents and tend to be advanced in age. Laggards typically tend to be focused on traditions, likely to have lowest social status, lowest financial fluidity, be oldest of all other adopters, in contact with only family and close friends, very little to no opinion leadership.

Heterophily and communication channels Lazarsfeld and Merton first called attention to the principles of homophily and its opposite, heterophily. Using their definition, Rogers defines homophily as "the degree to which pairs of individuals who interact are similar in certain attributes, such as beliefs, education, social status, and the like". When given the choice, individuals usually choose to interact with someone similar to him or herself. Furthermore, homophilous individuals engage in more effective communication because their similarities lead to greater knowledge gain as well as attitude or behavior change. However, most participants in the diffusion of innovations are heterophilous, meaning they speak different languages, so to speak. The problem is that diffusion requires a certain degree of heterophily; if two individuals are identical, no diffusion occurs because no new information can be exchanged. Therefore, an ideal situation would involve two individuals who are homophilous in every way, except in knowledge of the innovation. Opinion leaders within a social system Throughout the diffusion process there is evidence that not all individuals exert an equal amount of influence over all individuals. In this sense there are Opinion Leaders, leaders who are influential in spreading either positive or negative information about an innovation. Rogers relies on the ideas of Katz & Lazarsfeld and the two-step flow theory in developing his ideas on the influence of Opinion Leaders in the diffusion process Opinion Leaders have the most influence during the evaluation stage of the innovation-decision process and late adopters. In addition opinion leaders have a set of characteristics that set them apart from their followers and other individuals. Opinion Leaders typically have greater exposure to the mass media, more cosmopolitan, greater contact with change agents, more social experience and exposure, higher socioeconomic status, and are more innovative. Organizations Innovations are often adopted by organizations through two types of innovationdecisions: collective innovation decisions and authority innovation decisions. The collectioninnovation decision occurs when the adoption of an innovation has been made by a consensus among the members of an organization. The authority-innovation decision occurs when the adoption of an innovation has been made by very few individuals with high positions of power within an organization. Unlike the optional innovation decision process, these innovationdecision processes only occur within an organization or hierarchical group. Within the

innovation decision process in an organization there are certain individuals termed "champions" who stand behind an innovation and break through any opposition that the innovation may have caused. The champion within the diffusion of innovation theory plays a very similar role as to the champion used within the efficiency business model Six Sigma. The innovation process within an organization contains five stages that are slightly similar to the innovation-decision process that individuals undertake. These stages are: agenda-setting, matching, redefining/restructuring, clarifying, routinizing. Consequences of adoption There are both positive and negative outcomes when an individual or organization chooses to adopt a particular innovation. Rogers states that this is an area that needs further research because of the biased positive attitude that is associated with the adoption of a new innovation. In the Diffusion of Innovation, Rogers lists three categories for consequences: desirable vs. undesirable, direct vs. indirect, and anticipated vs. unanticipated. In her article, "Integrating Models of Diffusion of Innovations," Barbara Wejnert details two categories for consequences: public vs. private and benefits vs. costs. Public vs. Private Public consequences refer to the impact of an innovation on those other than the actor, while private consequences refer to the impact on the actor itself. Public consequences usually involve collective actors, such as countries, states, organizations, or social movements. The results are usually concerned with issues of societal well-being. Private consequences usually involve individuals or small collective entities, such as a community. The innovations are usually concerned with the improvement of quality of life or the reform of organizational or social structures. Benefits vs. Costs The benefits of an innovation obviously refer to the positive consequences, while the costs refer to the negative. Costs may be monetary or nonmonetary, direct or indirect. Direct costs are usually related to financial uncertainty and the economic state of the actor. Indirect costs are more difficult to identify. An example would be the need to buy a new kind of fertilizer to use innovative seeds. Indirect costs may also be social, such as social conflict caused by innovation. Criticism Much of the evidence for the diffusion of innovations gathered by Rogers comes from agricultural methods and medical practice.Various computer models have been developed in order to simulate the diffusion of innovations. Veneris developed a systems dynamics computer model which takes into account various

diffusion patterns modeled via differential equations. There are a number of criticisms of the model which make it less than useful for managers. First, technologies are not static. There is continual innovation in order to attract new adopters all along the S-curve. The S-curve does not just 'happen'. Instead, the s-curve can be seen as being made up of a series of 'bell curves' of different sections of a population adopting different versions of a generic innovation. Rogers has placed the contributions and criticisms of diffusion research into four categories: proinnovation bias, individual-blame bias, recall problem, and issues of equality.

Education reform is the process of improving public education. Small improvements in education theoretically have large social returns, in health, wealth and well-being. Historically, reforms have taken different forms because the motivations of reformers have differed. A continuing motivation has been to reduce cost to students and society. From the ancient times until the 1800s, one goal was to reduce the expense of a classical education. Ideally, classical education is undertaken with a highly-educated full-time (extremely expensive) personal tutor. Historically, this was available only to the most wealthy. Encyclopedias, public libraries and grammar schools are examples of innovations intended to lower the cost of a classical education. Related reforms attempted to develop similar classical results by concentrating on "why", and "which" questions neglected by classical education. Abstract, introspective answers to these questions can theoretically compress large amounts of facts into relatively few principles. This path was taken by some Transcendentalist educators, such as Amos Bronson Alcott. In the early modern age, Victorian schools were reformed to teach commercially useful topics, such as modern languages and mathematics, rather than classical subjects, such as Latin and Greek. Many reformers focused on reforming society by reforming education on more scientific, humanistic, pragmatic or democratic principles. John Dewey, and Anton Makarenko are prominent examples of such reformers. Some reformers incorporated several motivations, e.g. Maria Montessori, who both "educated for peace" (a social goal), and to "meet the needs of the child," (A humanistic goal.) It's clear that reform has taken many forms and directions. Throughout history and the present day, the meaning and methods of education have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Changes may be implemented by individual educators and/or by broad-based school organization and/or by curriculum changes with performance evaluations.

References Rogers, Everett M. . Diffusion of Innovations. Glencoe: Free Press. Rogers, Everett M. . Diffusion of Innovations. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0029266505Wejnert, Barbara (2002). "Integrating Models of Diffusion of Innovations: A Conceptual Framework". Annual Review of Sociology (Annual Reviews) 28: 297306. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.28.110601.141051. Retrieved 31 Mar. 2010. Probe Ministries 2001 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 2000 Plano, TX 75075 (972) 941-4565
careerdevelopmentplan.net/key-result-areas-48

Manuel L. Quezon University Manila, Philippines

Seminar in Reforms and Innovation in Education

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In Partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Major in Educational Management and Planning

Submitted by: Mr. Ronaldo A. Halili Submitted to: Prof. Libert A. Acibo, Ed.D.

Changes in General and in Education, Reforms, Innovation, Key Result Areas of Administration and Theories of Educational Reforms and Innovations
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