Marc Prensky in his article Listen to the Natives makes some good points when he mentions that as educators we must engage our students, learn their interests and get feedback from them as to how to improve instruction. These are all very important for effective education. When we engage students, the students pay attention and they learn. When we know what interests them, we can lead our instruction in a way that will keep them focused. And when we hear from them, we have a perspective from the receiving end of instruction and we can make appropriate changes or improvements.
What troubles me about this article, however, is that life is not all fun and games, and learning is not all fun and games. Mr. Prensky says, "students could learn algebra far more quickly and effectively if instruction were available in game format." There may be some truth to what he says but there are many aspects of education that will just be hard work.
Our digital natives may know how to work their IPhones and manage their Facebook accounts, but will they know how to create the next generation IPhones or social media programs? Knowing how to use the digital toys, that someone else has made, is not as difficult as knowing how to make those digital toys. The making part requires hard work and lots of not so fun effort.
I like the how will they create the next items point.
ReplyDeleteI agree, lots of good points, MO. Knowing how to use the toys isn't the same as making them from scratch. I think kids these days take so much for granted. There is very little actual learning going on because technology (machines) have made everything so easy.
ReplyDeleteYour point about education being hard work applies in many other ways as well. Life itself is not meant to entertain us. Part of growing up is realizing that you are not the center of the universe. If we feed our students constant entertainment, we are not educating.
ReplyDeleteOne skill that I believe we are supposed to help develop is the habit of attention. There are many times in life when it is important for us to listen in an engaged way and then make decisions--i.e. an election, a job interview, a sermon, etc. If it is our responsibility to educate the whole child, then this is a skill that must not be neglected.