9475 Diffusion of Educational Innovations

Change happens, but not always the way you want it to happen. This course will help you take charge of change by understanding change dynamics and using proven methods to influence change in any organization. Learn why some innovations are adopted and others are abandoned; why some people are quick to change and others need more time. Most importantly - learn how to make the changes you want to happen.

This course intrigued me from the time I read the topic of Module 0! Dr. Caplow states..."For the Diffusion of Innovations course, the purpose is simple: To get what you want." Who doesn't want to get what they want? This course has helped me to understand the process involved to diffuse an innovation. Although I was somewhat aware that everyone adopts innovations at different times, I wasn't aware of how differently each category determines the speed of adoption and the variety of factors that cause a product to succeed/fail. There are lots of challenges to the diffusion of innovations, but analyzing the reasons for the challenges make them somewhat easier to predict their success.