ListenSchools are stuck in the 20th century.Students have rushed into the 21st

How can schools catch up and providestudents with a relevant education?

s

School didn't teach me to read—I learned jrom my games,—̂A student

Educators have slid into the 21st century—and into the digital age—still doing a greatmany things the old way It's time for educa-tion leaders to raise their heads above thedaily grind and observe the new landscape

that's emerging. Recognizing and analyzing its character-istics will help define the education leadership v^thwhich we should be providing our students, both nowand in the coming decades.

Times have changed. So, too, have the students, thetools, and the requisite skills and knowledge. Let's take alook at some of the features of our 21 st century land-scape that will be of utmost importance to thoseentrusted with the stewardship of our children's 21stcentury education.

Digital NativesOur students are no longer "little versions of us," as theymay have been in the past. In fact, they are .so different

from us that we can no longer use either our 20thcentury knowledge or our training as a guide to what isbest for them educationally.

IVe coined the term distal native to refer to today'sstudents (2001). They are native speakers of technology,fluent in the digital language of computers, video games,and the Internet. I refer to those of us who were not borninto the digital world as distal immigrants. We haveadopted many aspects of the technolog)', but just likethose who leam another language later in life, we retainan "accent" because we still have one foot in the past.We will read a manual, for example, to understand aprogram before we think to let the program teach itself.Our accent from the predigital world often makes it diffi-cult for us to effectively communicate uith our students.

Our students, as digital natives, will continue toevolve and change so rapidly that we won't be able tokeep up. This phenomenon renders traditional catch-upmethods, such as inservice training, essentially useless.We need more radical solutions. For example, studentscould leam algebra far more quickly and effectively ifinstruction were available in game format. Students

would need lo beat the game to passthe course. They would be invested andengaged in the process.

We also need to select our teachers("or their empathy and guidance abilitiesrather than exclusively for their subject-matter knowledge. We all rememberbest those teachers wbo cared about usas individuals and who cut us someslack when necessary In today's rush tofind teachers qualified in the curriculum,we rarely make empathy a priority

Shifting GearsAs educators, we must take our cuesfrom our students' 21st century innova-tions and behaviors, abandoning, mmany cases, our own predigital

instincts and comfort zones. Teachersmust practice putting engagementbefore content when teaching. Theyneed to laugh at their own digitalimmigrant accents, pay attention tohow their students leam, and value andhonor what their students know. Theymust remember tbat they are teachingm the 21st century This means encour-aging decision making among students,involving students in designing instruc-tion, and getting input from studentsabout how they would teacb- Teachersneedn't master all the new technologies.They should continue doing what theydo best: leading discussion in the class-room. But they must find ways toincorporate into those discussions the

Our schools shouldhe teaching kids howto program, filterknowledge, andmaximize the featuresand connectivityof their tools.

information and knowledge that theirstudents acquire outside class in theirdigital iives.

Our young people generally have amuch better idea of what the future isbringing than we do. They're alreadybusy adopting new systems forcommunicating (instant messaging),sharing (blogs), buying and selling(eBay), exchanging {peer-to-peer tech-nolog}'), creating (Flash), meeting (3Dworlds), collecting (downloads), coor-dinating (wikis), evaluating (reputationsystems), searching (Google), analyzing(SETI), reporting (camera phones),programming (modding), socializing(chat rooms), and even leaming (Websurfing).

We need to help all our students takeadvantage of these new tools andsystems to educate themselves. I knowthis is especially hard when we're theones floundering, but teachers cancertainly ask students, "Does anyone doanything on the Web that is relevant towhat we're discussing?" or "Can youthink of any examples of this problemin your computer games?" Teachers canalso help students figure out who basthe best access to technology outsidescbool and encourage students to formstudy groups so that more studentsbenefit from this access. Teachers canlearn what technological equipmentthey need in their classrooms simply byasking students, and they can lobby toget tbese items installed in schoolcomputer labs and libraries.

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Student EngagementMore and more ol our students lackthe true prerequisites for leaming—engagement and motivation—at leastin terms of what we offer them in ourschools. Our kids do know whatengagement is: Outside school, theyare fully engaged by their 21st centurydigital lives.

If educators want to have relevancein this century, it is crucial that we findways to engage students in school.Because common sense tells us that wewill never have enough truly greatteachers to engage these students inthe old ways—through compellinglectures from those rare, charismaticteachers, for example—we mustengage them in the 21st century way:electronically. Not through expensivegraphics or multimedia, but throughwhat the kids call "gameplay" We needto incorporate into our classrooms thesame combination of desirable goals,interesting choices, immediate anduseful feedback, and opportunities to"level up" (that is, to see yourselfimprove) that engage kids in theirfavorite complex computer games. Oneelementary school in Colorado, forexample, takes its students on a virtualjoumey to a distant planet in a space-ship powered by knowledge. If thestudents don't have enough knowledgeto move the ship, they need to findit—in one another.

Collaborating with StudentsAs 21st century educators, we can nolonger decide/or our students; wemust decide with them, as strange asthat may feel to many of us. We needto include our students in everythingwe do in the classroom, involving themin discussions about curriculum devel-opment, teaching methods, schoolorganization, discipline, and assign-ments. Faculty or administration meet-ings can no longer be effective withoutstudent representation in equalnumbers. Our brightest students,trusted with responsibility, willsurprise us all with their contributions.

This may sound like the inmates arerunning the asylum. But its only bylistening to and valuing the ideas ofour 21st century students that we willfind solutions to many of our thorniesteducation problems. For example,putting a Webcam in every classroomis a digital native way to show adminis-trators and parents what really goes on.Teachers could also volunteer for tbisactivity to document and share bestpractices.

Digital tools arelike extensions ofstudents' brains.

Students could quite feasibly inventtecbnological solutions to streamlinehomework subrnission and correction,freeing up teacbers for more mean-ingful work. Encouraged to share theirexpertise, students can be a teacber'sbest resource for suggesting betteraccess to technology, defining the kindsof technology tbat teachers sbould beusing in the classroom, and showingteachers bow tbey can use specifichardware and software tools to teachmore effectively

Flexible OrganizationIn tbis century, we must find alterna-tives to our primary method of educa-tion organization—what 1 call herding.Herding is students' involuntary assign-

ment to specific classes or groups, notfor tbeir benefit but for ours. Nobodylikes to be herded, and nobody learnsbest in tbat environment. As educatorsbecome "teacberds" rather tbanteachers, we all lose. And creatingsmaller schools or classrooms is nosolution if the result is simply movingaround smaller herds.

There are two effective 21st centuryaltematives to herding. The first is one-to-one personalized instruction, contin-ually adapted to eacb student as he orshe learns. This practice has becomenext to impossible with growing classsizes, but it is still doable. Modemcomputer and video games havealready figured out bow to adapt everymoment of an experience to a player'sprecise capabilittes and skills. So bascomputerized adaptive testing. Class-rooms need to capitalize on students'individual capabilities and skills m thesame way.

How can we make our instructionmore adaptive and, as a result, far moreeffective? Just ask tbe students; they'llknow. Adaptivity, along witb connec-tivity, is where digital technology willbave its greatest impact on educaiion.

The second alternative to herding isbaving all learning groups self-select.Kids love working with their friends,especially virtually, Vm not saying, ofcourse, tbat students sbould join anygroup in this context, but that tbeyshould be able to choose their ownleaming partners ratber tban bavingteachers assign them. Optimally andunder proper supervision, a 4tb graderin one school could cboose a learningpartner in any 4th grade class in theworld, Teacbers could also guidestudents in selecting an approved adultexpert to partner witb.

If we let our students choose all tbegroups they want to be part of—witbout forcing tbem into any onegroup—we will all be better off. Onegreat advantage of virtual groups overherds is that nobody gets left out.Everybody can find someone in tbeworld to work with, Teacbers and

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administrators must be willing to setthis up, provide tbe necessary vetting,and let it happen.

Digital ToolsToday's students have mastered a largevariety of tools that we will never masterwith the same level of skill. Fromcomputers to calculators to MP3 playersto camera phones, these tools are likeextensions of their brains. Educating orevaluating students without tbese tooismakes no more sense to them thaneducating or evaluating a plumberwithout bis or her wrench.

One of the most important tools for21st century students is not thecomputer that we educators are tryingso hard to integrate, but the cell phonethat so many of our schools currentlyban. "Cell Phones Catapult Rural Africato 21st Century," blared a recent front-page New York Times headline(LaFraniere, 2005). They can catapultour students into the future as well.

Cell phones have enormous capabil-ities these days: voice, short messagingservice (SMS), graphics, user-controlled operating systems, down-loadables, browsers, camera functions(still and video), and geopositioning.Some have sensors, fingerprint readers,and voice recognition. Thumbkeyboards and styluses as well as plug-in screens and headphones turn cellphones into both input and outputmechanisms.

Tbe voice capabilities of the cellphone can help users access languageor vocabulary training or narrate aguided tour. Teachers could deliverinteractive lessons over a cell phoneand use short messaging service toquiz or tutor students. Students couldaccess animations in such subjects asanatomy and forensics. Students willsoon be able to download programsinto tbeir cell phones, opening up newworlds of learning.

In Europe, Cbma, Japan, and thePhilippines, the public is already usingmobile phones as learning tools. We inthe United States need to join them

Programming is perhaps the key skillnecessary for 21st century literacy.

and overcome objections that studentsare "using them for cheating" (so maketbe tests open book!) or for "inappro-priate picture taking" (so instill someresponsibility!). In the UnitedKingdom, teachers are evaluatingstudent projects over mobile phones.The student describes the project, andthe teacher analyzes the student'svoiceprint for authentication.

Let's admit that the real reason weban cell phones is that, given theopportunity to use them, studentswould "vote with their attention," justas adults "vote with their feet" byleaving the room when a presentation isnot compelling. Why shouldn't ourstudents have tbe same option withtheir education when educators fail todeliver compelling content?

ProgrammingThe single most important differen-tiator between 20th century analog and21st century digital tecbnology isprogrammability Programming is

perhaps the key skill necessary for 21stcentury literacy In this arena, teachersand schools are stuck in ancient times.If you wanted to get something writtenback then, you had to find a scribe;today, you need a programmer.

All 21st century kids are program-mers to some degree. Every time theydownload a song or nng tone, conducta Google search, or use any software,they are, in fact, programming. Toprepare kids for tbeir 21st centurylives, we must help them maximizetheir tools by extending tbeir program-ming abilities. Many students arealready proficient enough in programslike Flash to submit their assignmentsin this medium. Schools should activelyteacb students tbis technology andencourage tbem to use it.

Of course, extending tbis literacyvidth our current teaching corps is prob-lematic. A number of teachers 1 knowbave taken matters into their ownhands, creating programming courses—especially in popular game program-

12 EDUCATIONAL LtADERSHip/DECEMBER 2005/JANL)ARY 2006

ming—for students during the summermonths, after scbool, and even in class.We need to capture tbese approachesand curriculums and make tbem avail-able over tbe Web for all to use.Teachers can also arrange for certainstudents to teach tbese classes to tbeirpeers. In addition, outside experts areoften v^alling to volunteer their services.

Legacy Versus Future LearningCurrently, tbe curriculums of tbepast—the "legacy" part of our kids'leaming—are interfering v^th andcutting into the "future" curriculum—the skills and knowledge that studentsneed for tbe 21st century. We need toconsolidate and concentrate importantlegacy knowledge and make room inscbool for 21st century leaming. Ourscbools should be teacbing kids bow toprogram, filter knowledge, and maxi-mize tbe features and connectivity oftbeir tools. Students sbould be learning21st century subject matter, such asnanotechnology, bioethics, geneticmedicine, and neuroscience.

This is a great place for involvingguest teachers from professions doingcutting-edge work in these emergingfields. If every district or school foundjust one expert v^illing to contribute bisor her expertise; set up and videotapeda meaningtul series of Q&A exchangeswitb students; and put tbose videos ontbe Web. enhancing them with addi-tional relevant materials, we'd soonhave a 21st centuiy curriculum.

Students want and deserve to receivethis content through 21st century toolsthat are powerful, programmable, andcustomizable—tbrough tools thatbelong to them. We could offer thiscontent to tbem on their cell phones,for example. A big part of our problemis figuring out how to provide thisbefore tbe end of the 21st century.

School Versus After SchoolPragmatically, our 21st century kids'education is quickly bifurcating. Theformal half, "school," is becoming anincreasingly moribund and irrelevant

institution. Its only function for manystudents is to provide them with acredential tbat tbeir parents say tbeyneed. Tbe informal, exciting half ofkids' education occurs "after school."Tbis IS the place wbere 21st centurystudents leam about their world andprepare themselves for their 21stcentury lives. It is revealing tbat one ofthe most prevalent student demandsregarding technology is to keep theirschools' computer labs open untilmidnight (and for us to stay out of tbeir

TECH NO-BYTE

U.S. teachers who saythat computer technology hasaffected the way they teach:

• To some extent—86 percent.• A great deal—55.6 percent.

—eSchooi News, 2005

way while they are there). It is equallytelling tbat so many software and Webprograms aimed at enhancing kids'education are designed for after-scboolratber than in-school use.

If our scbools in the 21st century areto be anything more tban bolding pensfor students while their parents work,we desperately need to find ways tohelp teachers integrate kids' tecbnology-rich after-school lives witb tbeir lives inscbool. It doesn't belp if, in the wordsof Henry Kelly, president of the Federa-tion of American Scientists, "thecookies on my daughter's computerknow more about ber interests than herteachers do," It helps even less that agreat many of our teachers and admin-istrators have no idea what a cookie or ablog or a wiki even is.

Student VoiceOur students, who are empowered inso many ways outside their schoolstoday, have no meaningful voice at all

in their own education. Their parents'voices, which up until now have beentheir proxies, are no longer any moreclosely ahgned with students' realeducation needs than their teachers'voices are. In the 21st century, this lackof any voice on the part of the customervnll soon be unacceptable.

Some organizations are trying tochange tbis. For example. NetDay(wvAv,netday;org) conducts an annualonline student survey of technology usethrough its Speak Up Days. All schooldistricts should participate in thissurvey Then, instead of hearing fromjust the 200,000 students whoresponded in tbe last survey, we wouldknow what 50 million of them arethinking. Districts would receive valu-able tnput from tbeir students that theycould apply to improving instruction.

As we educators stick our heads upand get the lay of the 21st centuryland, we would be vtise to rememberthis: If we don't stop and listen to thekids we serve, value their opinions,and make major changes on the basisof the valid suggestions they offer, wewill be left in the 21st century withschool buildings to administer—butwitb students who are physically ormentally somewhere else, S!

ReferencesLaFraniere, S, (2005, Aug, 25), Cell phones

catapult rural Africa to 21st century.New York Times on the Web. Available:http://msn-cnet.com,com/Ce!I+phones+catapuIt+niral+Africa+to+21st+cemury/2100- 1039_3-584290Thtml

Prensky. M. (2001). Digital natives, digitalimmigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5). 1-2.Available: www,marcprensky,com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives, %20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Partl,pdf

Copyright © 2005 Marc Prensky

Marc Prensky (marc@games2train,com)is a speaker, writer, consultant, andgame designer in education and learning.He is author of Digital Game-BasedLearning (McGraw-Hill, 2001) and Don'tBother Me, Mom, I'm Learning IParagon,2005).

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