Listen to the Natives

Hillary Seeland
hillary.seeland@gmail.com
18 September 2007

"Listen to the Natives"
Marc Prensky


It is time to renovate the traditional school setting. If teachers care about the current and future education of their students, they must open their ears to the voices around them. The 21st century's technological climate where we find ourselves is vastly different from the era in which we were schooled. Modern students are well versed in the gathering of information and are able to access said information with the click of a button. The outcome of such rapid growth and change nullifies traditional methods of instruction that are no longer interesting or engaging. Consequently, the gap between school and "the world outside of school" grows continually larger. Marc Prensky, the author of "Listen to the Natives," identifies simple (and not-so-simple) strategies that educators can adopt in an effort to effectively engage in learning alongside modern students.

• Digital natives vs. digital immigrants
• Teachers must practice putting engagement before content
• Adaptivity and connectivity are where digital technology will have its greatest impact
• The vital importance of the cell phone
• Programming is the key skill for 21st century literacy
• Listen to the students
• Educators must make room for 21st century subject matter

My struggle in responding to this article has nothing to do with its content and everything to do with the tag line for a soap opera: Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

It is scary to think about how quickly human beings evolve. From my perspective, the recent advancements in technology have created a mass information movement that reads like a science fiction novel. No matter which way you look at it, there is no sitting still. The only way that it is justified for those of us in education to dig our heels into the shag carpeting of our Nirvana lives, is if nuclear war annihilates everyone outside of Alaska and we actually do take up residence in igloos.

I do not want to live in an igloo; I hate being cold. I also hate the idea of becoming completely disconnected from my students. The points that Prensky makes in his article are uncomfortable and challenging for me to wrap my mind around, but I believe that his vision is the one that educational institutions need to look forward to (literally).