Digital learning trails: Scaling technology-facilitated curricular innovation in schools with a rhizomatic lens

Technological advances in the form of ubiquitous computing has altered the learning landscape today. Contemporary modes of learning afford curricular innovations in schools. While learning journeys of decades ago entailed field trips to places of interest such as museums and zoos where students completed tasks or worksheets after each trip, the learning journeys of today are facilitated by technological tools such as smart devices and global positioning systems. Learners are moving away from being mere content consumers through technology-facilitated dialoguing and content creation (Tay and Lee 2014; Tan et al. 2011). In this paper we unpack tenets of a technology-facilitated curricular innovation (CI) through a case study analysis of the development and implementation of a Digital Learning Trails (DLT) project. Through tracing the trajectory of the DLT project, we identify factors related to the scalability and sustainability of this CI that was developed in one school and subsequently used by more than 200 schools in Singapore. We posit that scaling curricular innovations in schools can be conceptually provisioned through a rhizomatic lens where innovation is characterized by multiple trajectories, allowing for recontextualizations of CIs. We argue that, (1) the pedagogic process in the context of education and scaling is based on supporting apprentice-schools to make multiple recontextualizations; (2) the enculturation process of a school adopting and implementing a particular innovation is based on a rhizomatic rather than linear, conception of the development of expertise; and (3) the process of CI implementation is based on developing the capability to not only make multiple recontextualizations but also to accumulate enough capital to send out new ‘roots and shoots’ as it spreads.