Teaching digital natives - Moving to the future

NYE TONER (NEW TONES) - MUSIC AND DIGITAL LEARNING

TEACHING DIGITAL NATIVES
MOVING TO THE FUTURE
May 5, 2012 Århus, Denmark

Marc Prensky
marc@games2train.com
www.marcprensky.com
© 2012 Marc Prensky

Godmorgen
alle!

Interesting pics

Er alle
vågen?

Interesting pics

Er alle
glade?

Interesting pics

Do you
understand
English?

Interesting pics

I don’t know
much about
Danish music
schools, but

Interesting pics

I do come
to you as
a…

Interesting pics

and as a
fellow music
teacher

Here,
today,…

Interesting pics

I’m far more
interested in
helping you with


YOUR
QUESTIONS
AND CONCERNS


than I am in
giving you


MY “GENERAL”
ANSWERS


Which you can find
In my books:


and on

www.marcprensky.com


But let me begin
with a few
general remarks:

As we all move into a
NEW CONTEXT
for life and for
education…

A NEW CONTEXT of
increasing

Volatility
Uncertainty
Chaos
Ambiguity

accelerating


my goal is
to try to
help you:

Interesting pics


Understand NEW CONTEXTS


SEE NEW

PERSPECTIVES© 2012 Marc Prensky

Create
INNOVATIONS


and to encourage
you to try

NEW KINDS OF
PEDAGOGY © 2012 Marc Prensky

I’m
interested
particularly
in hearing
your
Interesting pics

“Yes…BUT”
questions


My goal is
to help you
change
these into

Interesting pics

“Yes…AND”


Here are
some
questions
that
interest me
Interesting pics

1. How can I engage my students?

2. How can I instill in them a love
of music and learning?

3. How can I move into the future
and still preserve the past?

4. How can I use technology most
effectively in my teaching?

5. In continuingly making things
shorter and faster and more
technology-based, Are we losing
anything of importance?
Are we gaining anything useful?
Are there tradeoffs we need to
make, and if so, how should we
make them?


6. What is the relationship between
music and technology?
Is technology making kids better
musicians? Can it?
Is there such a thing as
“Musical Digital Wisdom”?


Here are the
BIG IDEAS
I want to
discuss today:

Interesting pics

Prensky’s ‘Five Big Ideas’

1. ADAPT TO A CHANGING CONTEXT
2. LISTEN TO THE KIDS
3. CHANGE PEDAGOGY
4. USE TECHNOLOGY WISELY
5. TEACH THE RIGHT STUFF


The

is changing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_KYUF6pxR8

Does that mean
WE NEED TO
CHANGE
everything we like and do?


NOT REALLY


It’s not that we need

TO CHANGE!
everything


Many things don’t change

Musicality
Rhythm
Melody
Harmony


But we do need to

to the world our
students live in

and


is something we are
All good at!

And that means finding

BALANCE


What we need in the 21st century
is to balance ‘the old’ & ‘the new’

The Old
BALANCE The New


is to balance ‘the past’ & ‘the future’

The Past
BALANCE The Future


is to balance ‘top down’ & ‘bottom up’

Top
Down

BALANCE
Bottom
Up


is to balance ‘technology’ & ‘pedagogy’

BALANCE
Technology Pedagogy


Verbs vs. Nouns

Verbs Nouns
(Skills) (Tools)
Presenting PowerPoint
Flash
HTML5
Communicating Texting
Twitter
Email

Learning Wikipedia
You Tube
????

Stay the same Change rapidly

Verbs vs. Nouns

Verbs Nouns
(Skills) (Tools)

Under-
Rhythm Drums
iPad
Drum pads
standing
and Melody Instruments
Voice
Voice controller
Showing

Harmony Synthesizer
Keyboard
Computer

Stay the same Change rapidly

We must ask:

What are the key
verbs (skills)
we want our students
to learn, practice and
master?


We must ask:

“Am I using the
appropriate / best /
latest nouns
for the verbs (skills)
I am teaching?”


and we need to


be ready and
be flexible enough
to move to new nouns
as they appear


One thing we know
for sure is that


Kids

music

Teaching music
should be the
easiest job
in the world!


Struggling?

Not struggling?


If you are NOT
struggling,
you may have a bigger
problem than if you are:


Reasons for struggle?

1. Our students have changed

2. Our job (teaching) has changed

3. Our context has changed


1. Early 21st c. kids

Formed in a different environment
than we were

Surrounded from birth
by digital tools

Take the tools for a basic part
of their lives

10 Things
Today’s Students Want

1.
They want to be
respected, trusted,
and have their
opinions valued and
count


10 Things

2.
They want to follow their own
interests and passions


10 Things

3.
They want to create


10 Things

4.
They want to use
the tools of their time


10 Things

5.
They want to work with
their peers on group
work and projects
(with ways to prevent slackers
from getting a free ride)


10 Things

6.
They want to express and
share their opinions


10 Things

7.
They want to make decisions
and share control


10 Things

8.
They want to connect
with their peers, both in
class and around the
world


10 Things

9.
They want to cooperate
and compete with each
other


10 Things

10.
They want an education
that is not just
relevant,
but REAL


2. Early 21st c. teaching

Still in classrooms,
but
Lots of new tools
And online resources available


Pedgogical change from:

Students Students
being TO teaching
told themselves
(with our coaching
and guidance)

BOREDOM ENGAGEMENT

Teachers, of course, are
a great tool for
learning…


But teachers
need to be
a 21 st century tool,

too!


21st Century Pedagogy =
a move from:

Lecturer Coach
to
Controller Guide
“Ruler” Partner

1 2 3 4 5

Music Teacher?

versus

Music Coach
Music Guide

Why change Adapt?


“I used to teach my
subject—
now I teach my
students”
— An experienced teacher


3. The early 21st c.
music context
Every kid has an ipod
TV: Idol (etc) + You Tube
Synthesizers
Robots
Apps
Live Collaboration Online
Online teaching tools

The world is
“birthing”
a new type of
person…


…who requires
digital tools
to live and work


“H. sapiens digital”


“The Digitally Wise Person”


…where the
wisdom requires
digital tools


H. Sapiens required tools

Cars
Eyeglasses
Timepieces
Money
Keys
Clothing
Blackboards, Chalk
Paper, Pencil
Books, Instruments

H. Sapiens Digital’s
required tools:
All of the above, plus
iPad
Computer
Network
Mobile
IM
GPS
etc.


Becuase
There are things our brains do
well,
and things machines do better


Brains ARE good at:
• Reasoning
• Reflecting and contemplating
• Combining reason and emotion
• Solving problems
• Learning from experience
• Working with other people
• Creating
• Storing and retrieving
• Building up expertise
• Having empathy
• Having a sense of context
• Having a sense of humor
• Telling stories
• Having musical thoughts


Brains ARE NOT good at:

• Using millions of data points

• Understanding others’ thoughts and intentions

• Predicting the future

• Dealing with extreme complexity

• Going beyond our senses

• Holding multiple perspectives simultaneously

• Separating emotional and rational
• Remembering everything we hear, think or read


WISDOM,
in the 21st century

means combining

Those things our Those things that
with
BRAIN DOES MACHINES DO
WELL BETTER


“If I lose my cell
phone I lose half
my brain”
-- a high school student


“In olden days
you had to
memorize phone
numbers”
-- a 10-year-old student


A central problem
for the future of education is

What do we keep in
our heads,
and what do we
delegate to machines?


Do you teach
the skills kids will need
TOMORROW?


Yesterday’s Today’s Tomorrow’s
Literate Literate Literate
Person Person Person

Work in
Write Write a virtual
a letter an email community
Write Make Make
a report a PowerPoint a video
Write Write Write a
an essay a blog post program


Yesterday’s Today’s Tomorrow’s
Musical Musical Musical
Person Person Person??

Read Read Use a
notes tablature computer

Play Play Play
piano synthesizer controller

Attend Listen/ Write an
concerts Watch videos app


We need to

to the world we and our
students live in

scary


and sometimes unpleasant
Interesting pics

So let’s prepare our kids


To get the slides:

email:
marcprensky@gmail.com

Please visit my web site
www.marcprensky.com


Teaching digital natives - Moving to the future

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Teaching digital natives - Moving to the future

Similar to Teaching digital natives - Moving to the future (20)

More from Seismonaut

More from Seismonaut (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Teaching digital natives - Moving to the future