Article Review: "Listen to the Natives"

Aaron Routon: aaronrouton@hotmail.com: 8/21/08

“Listen to the Natives” by Marc Prensky

Overview of article.

In “Listen to the Natives” Marc Prensky suggests that schools need to adapt current teaching strategies to be more inclusive of technology. He states that students today are different today than in the past largely due to the influence of technology. His belief is that if teachers do not adapt, education will be ineffective.

Prenksy advises that teachers must be engaging in order to be relevant to students. The article focuses on impact of technology on students and on how students will learn best. Prensky suggests strategies that incorporate the internet and cell phones in classroom communication.

The author focuses on teaching becoming more individualized and self-guided by the students. He states “we also need to select our teachers for their empathy and guidance abilities rather than exclusively for their subject-matter knowledge.” Prensky believes teachers roles should shift from being directors of information to being learning partners with students.

Reference Points:

1. Students today are “digital natives” having been raised with modern technology where many adults were not “born into technology” and had to learn it later in life. The idea is that technology for students today is second nature and that parents and teachers find it more difficult
2. Prensky believes that teachers need to engage students with things they relate to in order for learning to be optimal
3. The idea of “gameplay” where learning is fun in hopes to keep students motivated to learn.
4. Teachers should stray from “herding” and attempt more one-on-one personalized instruction OR self selected learning groups where students can connect with any person world wide to be a partner in group learning.
5. The use of cell phone technology in the classroom should bee locked at as an asset rather than a liability.
6. Educators need to teach students to be programmers or their learning and work with available technology to accomplish goals.
7. The goal of education should be to teach students to filter knowledge and maximize the features and connectivity of their tools.
8. Unless schools conform to using technology, they will become archaic, outdated, and irrelevant to students.

Reflection:

I find that student engagement is a fine line for education to walk. I want students to be engaged, but I feel it would be a disservice to students if education fell into the entertainment trap. School should prepare students for life and by feeding into the entertainment model, I fear that students will lose interest and motivation once something becomes hard work or boring. Most people will need money someday and they will do it by working a job that might be hard or boring.

I also feel that the author ignored economic stratification brought on by such attempts to education. What happens if a student doesn’t have a computer at home, or a cell phone, or an MP3 player. It seams that this article ignores those students who do not have the financial resources to keep current.

I do like the possibilities that this article brought up- teaching can be very interactive and self guided on many levels. Students will benefit and be motivated to learn when they have more choices- this mirrors learning later in life. Cell phones and the internet make larger learning communities possible and gives many more opportunities. I do believe that teachers should use these things as tools but also instill in students a good work ethic and should guide students in positive social skills. As educators we want to teach life skills. Technology is a skill that people will need to survive, but education should also be well rounded.