“Listen to the Natives”, by Marc Prensky

Overview
In his article, “Listen to the Natives”, Marc Prensky calls attention to the fact that while students are rising with the age of technology, the system at large is not. Teachers can’t reach students to the best of their ability without embracing the technologies available and empowering students directly to engage deeper in their learning. Today’s students are intimately connected with technology in a way that most teachers can’t grasp. Incorporating technology and programming skills into a school curriculum does not only benefit students, but has the potential to enhance teaching opportunities and increase the efficiency of day-to-day tasks. Prensky feels that it is the responsibility of educators to include students in school decisions, curriculum development, and teaching methods. Students, in his opinion, need choices and the ability to make their own decisions. With the aid of technology, we have access to a global classroom where students can take learning to a level unimaginable to most adults. It is a time of great change in the classroom. Educators need to accept this change and develop a vision for learning that capitalizes on content that is relevant and meaningful for today’s student.

Reference Points:

1. Our students, as digital natives, will continue to evolve and change so rapidly that we won’t be able to keep up.
2. We also need to select our teachers for their empathy and guidance abilities rather than exclusively for their subject matter knowledge.
3. Our young people often have a much better idea of what the future is bringing than we do.
4. As 21st century educators, we can no longer decide for out students; we must decide with them…. We need to include our students in everything we do in the classroom…
5. It’s only by listening to and valuing the ideas of our 21st century students that we will find solutions to many of our thorniest education problems.
6. If we let our students choose all the groups they want to be part of – without forcing them into any one group- we will all be better off.
7. Programming is perhaps the key skill necessary for 21st century literacy.
8. Teachers can also arrange fro certain students to teach these classes to their peers.
9. Students should be learning 21st century subject matter, such as nanotechnology, bioethics, genetic medicine, and neuroscience.

Reflection:
I agree with many of Prensky’s suggestions, and recognize the critical need to incorporate technology in the classroom, however, I feel as though he went a bit overboard. Educators are not entertainers. The focus of school never has been, nor should be, entertainment. Prensky’s claims that cell phones are extensions of students’ brains and that students should reserve the right to use their phones in class if a presentation is not compelling, strikes a powerful discord with me. Learning is work, being a student is a job. In addition to academics, we need to teach our children respect, listening skills, and how to act as a human being. If students can only relate to their ipods and their “virtual realities”, we will loose every sense of connectivity between generations and physical human beings. Is this really the direction we are choosing to head in?