Our administrators’ group was fortunate to have Mark Prensky’s article “Backup Education?” emailed to us by Dean Shareski. In this article Prensky talks about how teachers are not preparing their students for the future but keeping the past alive. In doing so they, the teachers, are doing a huge disservice to the students. Below is a piece from Prensky’s article.
“Those teachers who want to give their kids a backup education can’t understand or accept that the world of their students is diverging incredibly quickly from their own. They don’t understand that their well-intentioned instinct to “protect” their kids actually has the opposite effect – it prevents their kids from learning what they need to know to succeed in the twenty-first century.”
In my opinion Prensky makes some outstanding arguments about how teachers use excuses to not embrace technology within the classroom. I totally agree with Prensky’s stance and echo his opinion that teachers who engage in this type of approach to education are not fulfilling the needs of their students but their own personal needs. Now Prensky does not say this directly in his article but this is my interpretation of his message.
Give this a read and let me know what you think. Also, it is only three pages long so even us veteran grad students who are article wary can find the five minutes to quickly absorb Prensky’s thoughts.
http://scstefan1.wordpress.com/2008/03/02/why
Great recommend, and you’ve pulled up a key passage that hopefully resonates with many that read it.
Very interesting article with some great ideas. I can think of many parents who also value a “back-up education.” There are many groups out there who need to read and consider this article not just educators.
I’m not a big fan of Prensky usually, but he makes a good point here. If one of the aims of education is to prepare learners to take part as contributing citizens then that preparation needs to be for the future and not the past. It’s just that we need to re-define the basics.
It’s not how we pen the words but what we write.
It’s not what we read but our ability to comprehend, synthesize and create meaning.
It’s not whether we can add and subtract but whether we understand the concept of number.
I also think it’s not about the technology but rather our understanding of learning. Technology is a key enabler, but the driver of change in our classrooms.
Cindy