https://medium.com/teachersguild/what-does-innovation-mean-to-you-68045b5932c4#.bpfa8tk7a
Here is a view I related to by Elysa Fenenbock, Educator at Stanford d.school and Designer-in-Residence at Google -
Simply put, innovation occurs when you solve a problem in a new way, but impactful innovation occurs when you solve the problem in the right way. These solutions can be entirely new products or services, but are just as often, existing solutions brought to new industries. For instance, the knots sailors use have been around for hundreds of years, and probably won’t need to change much. They have knots that slip, that tie objects or ropes together, tension knots…the list goes on. There is probably not much need for innovation in knot-tying on a sailboat. However, if you borrowed the sailor’s knots to tie sutures in surgery, or create a new jewelry clasp, that would be ‘innovation.’ One of my favorite innovations, is definitely the thumb hole in a long sleeve shirt or sweatshirt. Elegantly simple, incredibly functional, and recently fashionable.
Being able to take what is already out there and putting it to a different yet worthwhile use that is what humans have been doing throughout history. Not always do humans use things in a worthwhile way. The landfills are filled with all our crazy ill-thought out ideas. Teaching has similar issues. We've got a "book room" at my school filled with all kinds of good-intentioned ideas. That is the value of a Master's Program like this. We can sift through all the different twists on the same idea (nearPod, Prezi, WeVideo) and see which makes the most sense, or if they are usable at all. Districts shove so much into our classrooms, not just devices, and "they" believe they have innovated. Box checked, done. But, innovation takes practice just like everything else. Practice needs time and teachers are rarely given the luxury of time. For me, this is my Professional Development. My district doesn't do PD, and it is rare for anyone to go to a conference. Often trainings happen in the summer or outside of the contract day. So without this Innovative Learning Master's Program it would be a very slow slog technology-wise.
Innovation does not just happen. It has to be fed.