I have approached IFEMA to see, in Simo Education 2014, to Marc Prensky talking about the future of education and teaching. Prensky is very accessible, many photographs have been taken with many of the teachers who have attended in addition to sharing their contact information to expand the conversation outside the sessions in which he participates. And is that Marc Prensky is a professor convinced that teachers are the key to the educational process and fundamental so that children and young people around the world can respond to the great changes that are happening in our society.
During the conference he talked about many concepts that apply to today's children and adolescents such as multitasking capacity, socialization, having fun, the acquisition of skills and knowledge, the use of technology, the entrepreneurial attitude, the possibilities of the brain, innovation , etc. For Marc Prensky it is very important encourage students to surprise us, to offer them resources, knowledge and autonomy to do things that help change the world. Because, instead of building the future for young people it is more important that they build their own future and for that we have to encourage them to experiment.
For Prensky many of the social networks, such as FacebookThey are huge experiments from which extraordinary lessons can be learned. And we are seeing how a network of connected people works and how they evolve across the planet! One of the phrases that I liked the most is that in the 21st century there are no cultural limitations among the inhabitants of the planet and technology has allowed us to verify that all young people behave similarly anywhere in the world.
Marc is the father of a 9-year-old boy, he is also a teacher and speaks and travels around the world to find out what happens with education. And it does not stop to verify that the world is changing, there are uncertainties and volatility in addition to the questioning of the rules, for example, we yield privacy in exchange for obtaining better services. Although we are very lucky because We have a lot of technology, knowledge and desire to encourage to children to change, to adapt and to have autonomy. So, What do teachers have to do to facilitate change? Because what students want is to trust them, stay connected, get what they want, enjoy what they like, create with devices, take advantage of education to respond to the challenges of the future, whatever they may be. Current children are the latest pre-Internet generation and it is also the first generation that thinks globally.
AdvertisingIn Marc Prensky's opinion, teachers have to:
- prepare students for respond to the challenges of the new world
- perform Projects and boost learning for students to do things that help improve the world
- prepare students to also get a degree to help them have a resume with real jobs, successful experiences participating in projects and doing things that work and improve the current situation
- put the focus on the children think, make and manage your relationships in an effective way
- take advantage of technology to carry out projects, works, jobs and to experience with her. And if parents say they do not experiment with their children we will have to learn to manage these resistances because the change is unstoppable
- develop attitudes in children because knowledge can be offered by machines
- develop abilities in children although machines will be the ones that do it through repetition and training
- work the coaching, adaptation and acceleration of change in students
- offer autonomy to the students
- respect to students as people and have faith that they can create their new world. The world we met parents or grandparents will not come back
- do not underestimate what children can do
- develop in students the critical thinking, foster relationships, develop empathy and everything effectively
Perhaps Marc Prensky's ideas may surprise parents and teachers readers of Peques and More. In my opinion I think what he says is true and it is necessary to change and promote new ways of doing. Parents have a lot of responsibility, because we also have to practice at home by example and teachers have to open classroom doors, listen to students, practice and talk with their colleagues, see success stories in other schools and encourage the students to work, to do and to experiment. And surely children will surprise us with their proposals and their new ways of doing.
