Dustin Madden
dustinm@gmail.com
9/23/2008

"Listen to the Natives"

by Marc Prensky

I. Overview

In "Listen to the Natives", Marc Prensky argues that because technology is evolving at such a rapid pace, much of educators' training and knowledge is quickly becoming obsolete. He constantly uses the term "21st century" to emphasize his opinion that students are growing up in a world that is so different from the one that most teachers were raised in that unless educational practices are radically changed, they will become essentially useless.

In order to keep up with technological change, Prensky suggests that teachers incorporate more of the students' opinions and knowledge into the curriculum. He believes that in general students are extremely technologically capable, and so teachers should help guide them in their own pursuits rather than teaching them what the educator thinks is important for them to know. He also recommends that students be given more power in the classroom to make decisions and to participate in discussions about what and/or how they would teach.

II. Prensky's citation-less opinions on:

Students and Technology

1. "Outside school, they [students] are fully engaged by their 21st century digital lives."
2. "Many students are already proficient enough in programs like Flash to submit their assignments in this medium."
3. "Students should be learning 21st century subject matter, such as nanotechnology, bioethics, genetic medicine, and neuroscience."


Collaboration with Students

1. "We need to include our students in everything we do in the classroom, involving them in discussions about curriculum development, teaching methods, school organization, discipline, and assignments."
2. "They [teachers] need to... pay attention to how their students learn, and value and honor what their students know."
3. "Our brightest students, trusted with responsibility, will surprise us all with their contributions."


The Role of Gaming in Education

1. "For example, students could learn algebra far more quickly and effectively if instruction were available in game format."
2. "Can you think of any examples of this problem in your computer games?"
3. "We need to incorporate into our classrooms the same combination of desirable goals, interesting choices, immediate and useful feedback, and opportunities to "level up" that engage kids in their favorite complex computer games."


Does Prensky somehow $$benefit$$ from this article? Why is he writing so much about the benefits of gaming in education?

1. "Marc Prensky is a speaker, writer, consultant, and game designer in education and learning. He is author of Digital Game-Based Learning (McGraw-Hill, 2001) and Don't Bother Me, Mom, I'm Learning (Paragon, 2005).
2. Marc Prensky’s CV: http://www.marcprensky.com/experience/Prensky-Resume.pdf


III. Reflection

In this article, Prensky is essentially making two very strong recommendations for educators: one is that we respect and value students knowledge and opinions and try to incorporate them into our teaching, and the other is that as educators we need to use the technology that students are engaged with in our classroom. While I certainly agree with the first one, I find Prensky’s discussion of the second point to be condescending and lacking nuance.


First of all, Prensky assumes that educators are not capable of keeping up with technology, and that students inherently are, as they were born in the digital age. It seems that Prensky has neglected to discuss a rather large percentage of the population that does not have full access to all of the modern digital devices that he mentions. The technology gap is something that I know is very real—I would estimate that roughly only about 25% of my students have internet access at home, and probably only slightly more than that have a functioning computer at home. So certainly not all of my students “are fully engaged by their 21st century digital lives” outside of school. While I believe that there is some truth in his discussion of the difficulties people who were raised in a pre-technology world may have keeping up with a constant barrage of new software and hardware, he exaggerates this to the point of absurdity. Apparently rather than learning to incorporate new technology, Prensky would have educators throw their hands up in the air and say “It’s not my fault, I’m a digital immigrant!” One of the characteristics that I have seen in the majority of the teachers that I work with is their ability to take the initiative and learn new things for their students benefit; with well-planned training programs, educators are certainly capable of keeping up with the technology curve.


Prensky also completely ignores the possibility that new technology isn’t actually beneficial. While I believe that it is important to prepare students to be able to navigate through a society with a focus on new communication systems, he presents new technology in a tone that implies it is inherently better than what came before. I personally have found that many new technologies made me less productive and lowered my quality of life: cable television kept me from learning about the culture and environment around me as a child, computer games helped keep me in a stage of social ineptitude for an unnecessary amount of time in high school, and using instant messenger programs never resulted in meaningful conversation and sucked my free time into a black hole during my college years. While I share Prensky’s excitement in the possibilities that new developments bring, I think it is important to learn to use them wisely, rather than using them for the sheer novelty of using them.

Finally, I am dubious of Prensky’s qualifications and intentions in making many of the bold statements that he does in this article. Looking at his CV (see web address above), it appears that he taught high school for a total of three years, back in 1968. So it seems his experience with the tech-savvy students of today may be questionable. However, he has a wealth of experience in marketing, product design, business consulting, and… well look at this, he designs educational computer games. Of course, I’m sure his constant reference to the benefit of games and the need to teach students in a way that is as engaging as computer games comes purely from his altruism.