The 21st-Century Digital Learner

The first three paragraphs of this article really caught my attention. The author, Marc Prensky, shares that when he gives presentations to educators to help adapt the educational system to the 21st century, he never sees a kid in sight. He believes that in an age where we are trying to empower young people to take responsiblity for their learning by becoming an active participant, we still fall short of the mark. In this age of empowerment young people have little input into their own education and its future. It is true that students are herded into classroom and basically told what to do.

The 21st century digital learner is far beyond the basic reading, writing, arithemetic curriculum that I grew up with. Research shows that today's students by age 21 will have spent 10,000 hours playing vifeo games, sent 200,000 emails, watched 20,000 hours of television, spent 10,000 hours on a cell phone, but less than 5,000 hours reading. The 21st Century learner will need to be a multi-tasker that uses sound and images to convey content whenever possible. For today's students computers aren't technology - they are just a part of life. The digital learner works in teams, in a flexible environment.

So how does an analogy teacher instruct a digital learner? How do I change my mindset?