reflection on Prensky

ON: DIGITAL NATIVES, DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS

MARC PRENSKY
If children’s brains have indeed changed, old teaching methods are not only boring, but useless.
How to learn what is relevant takes over from what to learn. Analysis, logic and filtering become the learning essentials as information bombards the student from multiple sources. “Legacy content” is as essential to this kind of learning experience as it has been to older methods of teaching. What is required is new ways to experience this type of content, and for this we need to develop teacher understanding and usability of “Future content” learning methods.

This is fundamentally uncomfortable for the “Digital immigrant”, but essential if they are to remain relevant in today’s teaching environment. Knowing how today’s students learn is an essential part of today’s teaching. Being a “Digital Native” may seem chaotic to the “Digital Immigrant”, but adapting is essential if teaching is going to be relevant in today’s society. If games are today’s learning, then teacher’s need to learn to have fun with it.