Article Assessment #1
Jamie Townsend
townsend@gci.net
8/30/07


"Listen to the Natives"

by Marc Prensky

Overview (well, it would be if it weren't so suggestive and opinionated)

Marc Prensky introduces his argument in favor of furthering the use of technological tools and concepts in education by suggesting, "It's time for education leaders to raise their heads above the daily grind and observe the new landscape that's emerging." Sounds vaguely familiar...wake up and smell the coffee or how about pull your head out of the sand. He continues to assert that kids are so different nowadays that "We can no longer use our 20th century knowledge or our training as a guide to what is best for them educationally."

Why we're even here then I simply cannot figure out. Prensky thinks that scholastics should be converted into video game format to achieve optimal learning. He wants to put an equal amount of students on the faculty and administrative meetings, and he thinks students should be in complete control of who they work with on assigned projects, even if the pairs or groups reach outside the classroom and clear across the world through cyber space. He even outright declares that the only reason teachers ban cell phones is because they know their lectures and learning materials are too boring to hold any student's attention, especially with that kind of stiff competition.

Reference Points:

1.) The term digital native applies to 21st century students. These students can navigate and talk about technology fluently.
2.) The term digital immigrants implies to everyone else (except perhaps the people who invented and engineered the technology that the "digital natives" are so adept at using/abusing?)
3.) "Common sense tells us that we will never have enough truly great teachers to engage these students in the old ways--through compelling lectures from those rare, charismatic teachers" (p.11).
4.) Herding: involuntary assignment of students to particular courses. (Math? Reading?).
5.) Alternatives to herding: 1 on 1 instruction (preferable 1 student/ 1 computer, not 1 student/ 1 teacher), and of course the previously mentioned self-selection of group and partners by students.
6.) A cell phone for every student...
7.) Programming is essential for modern literacy.
8.) Schools are gigantic daycare offering irrelevant credentials.

Reflection (or "more of the afore")

Footnoted at the close of this article is the information that "Marc Prensky is a speaker, writer, consultant, and game designer in education and learning." Note that the word teacher is not present in the list. Then again, Idealist is also not in the list, but Prensky is a model subject in that regard. With unlimited funds, unlimited resources, and no pesky little scores and standards to reach, all schools could at least strive to swim in the inviting waters which Prensky depicts. Although, while busy "involving [students] in discussions about curriculum development, teaching methods, school organization, discipline and assignments" teachers might not have time to teach the students any actual academic content, and most of them would likely sink to the bottom when weighted with even a moderate exam or assessment.

Before Pensky's romanticized world can even begin to take shape, a lot more is going to have to change than just teachers' attitudes toward technology. How about NCLB? What about kids who don't even know how to read? These technological geniuses that Pensky is describing do not describe all 21st century students and districts. Reality can be such a bummer. Technology IS invaluable in the classroom. Technology HAS revolutionized education and that revolution will continue and grow, but impractical good intentions arrogant presuppositions are only a flimsy raft as we attempt to navigate into that oceanic future.

Prensky, Marc. "Listen to the Natives." Educational Leadership 63.4 (2005/2006): 9-13.

Futuring

I watched "Fox Becomes a Better Person" and "School Train" at home, and though I seriously considered busting out the assigned two paragraphs right then and there, I decided to legitimately adhere to the directive guidelines and showed them to one of my host teachers, Bob Davis.

Boy am I glad I did that. Where my brain was struggling to think of what type of rubric I could use to assess these pieces, and how I could masterfully BS an entire paragraph about a lousy rubric, Bob's brain produced (with impressive immediacy) a much more practical and relevant response. Bob declared, "The first thing I'd need to know in order to assess these products is how much time was spent on them." Ah-ha. A very good point indeed.

If students are spending many days or even weeks on producing a video to prove that they have a firm grasp on the concept of "metaphor," do they have time to learn anything else about language arts? Of course, students are learning technology and perhaps creative collaboration, but will that help them when they sit alone in front of an old-school style exam? The kids from Glen Bledsoe's 4th grade class might feel more like they're being run over by a train at that moment in time.

Despite the lesser graphics, Hannah's retelling of "Fox becomes a Better Person" actually shows a broader range of learning, and her work might make a better argument against Bob's initial distrust. Hannah's knowledge of story mapping and written vs oral story telling is apparent in her video (see Jason Ohler's article in Educational Leadership vol. 63, no 4), which incorporates a variety of complex concepts rather than just a singular literary device such as metaphor. I agree with Bob that the time taken to produce these videos has to be balanced with amount of actual material being learned.


Responding to the "epic2015" video is a little harder since I haven't been able to enjoy it in more than six to ten words at a time between loooong, irritating pauses, but I'll take a stab at it anyway.

• The possible future portrayed in this video could certainly have a huge impact in the classroom. Podcasting might turn out to be a highly effective means of squelching out the epic dilemma of nasty writings on bathroom walls. Why, with all the fun they'll be having on those ipods, kids will probably never even dream of graffiti, violence, drug use or most other behavioral nuisances. Of course, they might not frequent class at all as they stare, spellbound, into those tiny screens, podcasting this and podcasting that.
• The image is almost as haunting as the bit about Googlzon personalizing the advertisement webs to spin around individual consumers. It brings my Amazon account to mind: "Jamie, we have recommendations for you!" Titillating.
• The last seconds of the video, however, left an unexpected impression of putting the power in the hands of the "podder." Listening to the podders alert drivers to traffic delays and alternate routes and announcing amateur weather forecasts (which are sure to be 95% more reliable that the professional ones), I had a brief and tantalizing vision of technology obliterating the media.

Could it be that the media might just abate their own usefulness and impact right as they were within a finger's breadth of world domination with their stunning new devices and gimmicks? We shall see...perhaps even from a 2 inch by 2 inch pod screen. Maybe I'll finally buy one myself this year and join the growing ranks of the REAL, 21st Century Pod People.