Netflix vs. Blockbuster

Blockbuster blew it. It's as simple as that. In 2000, during the early days of Netflix, their leadership team flew to Dallas, Texas to meet with Blockbuster. The goal Netflix had in mind was to sell Blockbuster on this new idea of video rental by mail, and their big hope was to sell their company model to Blockbuster.

As you know, Blockbuster said no. The CEO of Blockbuster said there will never be a time in American culture where families will not want to go to a store to rent a movie and watch it as a family. Not long after that Blockbuster went bankrupt. 

Some may think that the success of Netflix hinged on innovation. I disagree. Netflix’s concept was not innovative, it was just common sense. The Netflix concept was essentially the same as Blockbuster. A customer rents a movie, watches it, and then returns it. They did change the rental payment to a subscription fee and they used virtual ordering and shipping. Those two details were innovative, but the nuts and bolts remained the same. Essentially, all they did was take current technology and enhanced a system that was already in place. This is not innovation; it's common sense. 

In education we have a phrase for common sense things. We call them best practices. Personally, I believe one of the biggest problems in education right now is the focus on innovation and not best practices. As you know, I believe technology must play a huge role in education, but it's not for the sake of innovation. It’s so we can enhance and update best practices. That’s the conversation we need to be having more often in education. 

A new survey by educational publisher McGraw-Hill found 73% of K-12 parents believe traditional textbooks move too slowly to stay relevant in today's rapidly changing environment, while 80% believe digital resource supported learning can make it easier for students to get their head around difficult concepts.

Here is a practical comparisons of the two:

Textbooks	Digital resources
Disengaging	Engaging
Expensive	More affordable
Quickly outdated	Easily updated
Limited accessibility	Increased accessibility
Individual	Collaborative
Stagnant	Interactive

On September 9 we took a big step at OCA. We provided 9th-12th grade students use of a personal Google Chromebook. These are 15-inch laptops using Google Drive, a cloud-based storage and sharing platform, and the Chrome internet browser. They are made for education and are the most practical device in the educational market. 

Putting engaging, collaborative, interactive technology in our students’ hands is one of the most effective ways we can educate our students and prepare them to be leaders in our world. According to research recently published in the New York Times, Chromebooks have become the standard tool for forward thinking academic settings, taking over the market once held by the iPad. This is a best practice that OCA has embraced, and we are ready to see the new doors it will open for our students and educators.  

Offering our students exposure to great learning opportunities is a responsibility we take very seriously. We also understand there is an equal responsibility to provide our students with a clear expectation for responsible use. First and foremost we are teaching our students about digital citizenship and how to use technology responsibly, appropriately, and professionally. Additionally, we are using programs to promote safe use of the internet, programs that include GoGaurdian, Hapara, and Google App Management.

The GoGaurdian content filter follows each device when it leaves our campus and monitors its activity. Hapara allows teachers to view what the students are doing with their computers in the classroom via a live feed. All of these programs will allow us to help direct our students towards responsible use, helping them appropriately use technology and teaching them to be successful in the 21st century.

Netflix knew what they were doing when they removed the barriers to high level success in the movie rental business. Now we’re doing the same thing with education.