Michael Horn wrote the book on innovation in K-12 classrooms. Now he’s making predictions about higher education.

By Adam Stone

March 27. 2018

A decade ago, Michael Horn shook the K-12 world awake with his book Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. He envisioned an education environment in which teachers’ embrace of technology would radically transform the classroom.

In subsequent years, Horn promoted that vision, first as founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation — a nonprofit think tank — and more recently as a consultant to a host of organizations in the education technology space, including the Entangled Group, a venture studio focused on the education ecosystem.

Horn has broadened his horizons: These days he is looking beyond K-12 to consider the disruptive impact of technology in higher education. He’s excited by what he sees, and optimistic that colleges and universities will soon take even bigger strides in the direction of digital learning.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Kecia Ray, executive director of the Center for Digital Education (CDE), spoke with Horn about the evolving digital landscape within higher education.