Marc Prensky
www.marcprensky.com
Marc Prensky is an internationally acclaimed speaker, writer, consultant, and designer in the critical areas of education and learning. He is the author of Digital Game-Based Learning (McGraw-Hill, 2001), the founder and CEO of Games2train (whose clients include IBM, Nokia, Pfizer, the US Department of Defense and the LA and Florida Virtual Schools) and creator of the sites www.dodgamecommunity.com and www.socialimpactgames.com .
Marc has created over 50 software games for learning, including the world's first fast-action videogame-based training tools and world-wide, multi-player, multi-team on-line competitions. He has also taught at all levels. Marc has been featured in articles in The NY Times and The Wall Street Journal, has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and the BBC, and was named as one of training's top 10 "visionaries" by Training magazine. He holds graduate degrees from Yale (Teaching) and Harvard (MBA).
In his blog, Prensky says some interesting things about the difference between school kids and schools approaches to Web 2.0 technologies on the internet:
'My current metaphor to describe what is happening: “Kids used to grow up in the dark intellectually, and educators were the people who showed kids the light. Today kids grow up in the light – they are connected to the world through television, the Internet, Social Networking, etc. If educators were smart, they would find ways build on this to increase the kid’s understanding. But instead they make the kids shut off all their connections to the world as they enter the building. In effect, rather than showing the kids the light, they bring the kids out of the light back into the darkness.”
One reason why many educators do not find the new technologies “useful educational tools” stems comes from the fact that the teaching paradigm that most teachers use, “kids being taught” (mostly by lecture), conflicts with these technologies – if you are lecturing, they are mainly an interruption. The technologies become much more useful (and in fact necessary) once the paradigm shifts to “students teaching themselves (with guidance)”. This shift has already happened for the kids in “after-school” learning settings They expect it in their schools as well.
A lot of concerns about the “have nots” would go away if the schools kept their computer labs open till midnight and on weekends, and teachers assigned projects to groups where at least one member (or the school) had the technology. Kids are great at sharing and teaching each other. If teachers would ask kids how they would like to be taught – and actually listen and dialog with the students – many of these issues could be resolved.'
Prensky certainly seems to be a big fan of giving students a lot of autonomy. In this posting he goes on to say that teachers and schools should consult with students to find out how they want to be taught and how technology should be used in the classroom. Prensky may have a point when he says that one reason why many educators are resistant to using technology in the classroom is because they do think like Skinner - students are an empty vessel that needs to be filled with knowledge. Web 2.0 technologies are by nature collaborative and encourage self directed learning anf discovery, thus making the behaviourist teacher obsolete. However, a teacher who adheres to a constructivist model of teaching will recognise the value of allowing students to work together to create their own understanding.
It is an interesting idea to allow students to teach themselves with guidence, however it is unlikely that this could be a reality for most teachers. This idea assumes that students want to learn and are interested in what they are doing. Some do, however many students require a more structured learning environment, with strong leadership from the teacher. Also, not all students have the skills to collaborate effectively to enhance theirs and others learning.
George Siemens
http://eduspaces.net/georges/
Siemens claims ‘ that existing theories of learning, such as behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism were all developed at a time when learning was not impacted on by technology in the way it is today. He presents an alternative theory of learning, based on an hypothesis that in the digital age we derive our competence from making connections.’
This article is very informative, Siemens explores the background to educational theories that have developed over time. He states that these theories such as behavourism, and constructivism were developed in a time and era where education did not have the luxury technology. Since the use of technology has become so much part of a child’s learning process, that it is important to address this issue and address this new theory that Siemen proposes: Connectivism.
Diana Oblinger
http://ready2net.csumb.edu/speakers/2002/program5/bio_oblinger.html
Diane Oblinger is a major contributor to online learning.
She is renowned for her leadership in teaching and learning with the use of technology and proposes the idea of shared learning.
She has co edited books. Some of this includes: the learning revolution, the future compatible campus, E is for everything and Best practices in student services.
Diane holds many awards in teaching and research and was named Young Alumnus of the Year by Iowa State University. She graduated three degrees from Iowa State university.
She is co-editor of five books, The Learning Revolution, The Future Compatible Campus, Renewing Administration, E is for Everything and Best Practices in Student Services as well as the author or co-author of more than two dozen monographs and articles on higher education and technology topics.
Danah Boyd
Danah is a PhD candidate at the School of Information (iSchool) at the University of California - Berkeley and a Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at the Harvard Law School. Her research focuses on how people negotiate a presentation of self to unknown audiences in mediated contexts. In particular, her dissertation is looking at how youth engage with networked publics like MySpace, Facebook, LiveJournal, Xanga and YouTube. You can find out more about Danah at her webpage.
Danah does some really interesting work on the invasion of privacy that can occur through the use of Facebook and Myspace. This is something that teachers must be acutely aware of when encouraging students to sign up for these sites.
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.