The 21st-Century Digital Learner

What an intimidating article for us old "white hairs!!" Marc Prensky's article advocates that we as educators need to include our students' input in how we teach. He compares our education system of "herding [our kids] into classrooms and telling [them] what to do and when to do it" with the corporate world, "where businesses spend tens of millions researching what their consumers really want." He also equates students to women of the past before suffrage.

I believe he is way off in his comparisons. Children and adults are very different critters. We have schools to educate our children so that when they are adults, they will be well equipped to make decisions about what they want. Is Mr. Prensky saying that women are like our "bored," spoiled kids?

However, with that said, Prensky has traveled the world and engaged panels of students to get their opinions on what is happening in their classes. I am glad to hear that he realizes that not all students are articulate enough to participate in just such a panel, but thank goodness, most of them are. And he is correct that so many of these worthy students are left sitting in classrooms filled with frustrated teachers and many behavior problems. If school would address the needs of the students with behavior issues, the rest of the class could become much more involved in the classroom input and how they are learning. It is amazing to me how much more engaged students become when one or two disturbances are removed from the class.

He suggests listening more to students and following their advice. It is interesting to note the common threads to these student comments. Many are grateful for good teachers they have but "frustrated" with others who aren't so good. They feel that teachers don't listen or value their opinions.

I also have short versions of student panels. I am surprised by the number of students who want me to send behavior problems out of the class so they can proceed with the activities and projects that we work on. I try to give students choices about how they learn about science. I frequently discuss different learning styles with them and encourage them to use a unique way to present their learning.

Prensky finds that kids all over the world are thrilled to share their opinions and hope that educators will value these opinions and make changes. "We just don't listen enough to our students." Mr. Prensky, I would love to have more time to discuss issues with my students. However, the adults in charge of me, the teacher, have given us so many objectives to teach, a pacing guide to keep up with, and test scores to raise, that I don't even have time to turn around in my classroom. The bureaucracy in charge of education, from legislators to administrators who are long out of the classroom or have never been there in the first place, have taken teaching and learning out of the classroom.

"Not that the inmates should run the asylum," says Mr. Prensky, "but in order to be successful in these times, we must combine top-down directives with bottom-up input." I couldn't agree more with this. But these days, teachers aren't often consulted or listened to, so why on earth would anyone listen to students.

I found the comments from other educators and readers very interesting also. They varied from "Bravo, Marc Prensky," to "This article is going to be part of the first morning of a week-long staff development program for teachers," to "I want to take issue with some of your points," and "Will the students really riot if they are not allowed input?"