Partnering: Intimidating, but Worthwhile. Prensky Image Marc Prensky, author of Teaching Digital Natives: Partnering for Real Learning expressed the importance of moving forward in education, teaching 21st century learners in ways they will learn more efficiently and effectively, and implementing available tools (technology) to enhance learning. His solution to doing all of these things and more to enhance learning was by implementing a partnering pedagogy in the classroom. Many educators are intimidated by the partnering pedagogy because it changes the role of the teacher in the classroom. However, a partnering pedagogy is the combination of many popular student-first educational ideals or concepts. Think about engaging, exciting, fun learning. I really doubt that listening to a lecture, taking notes, and taking a test on the material is what came to your mind. This traditional learning style is the last thing I thought of when trying to consider ways to make learning a worthwhile experience that students want to participate in. Prensky really highlights the importance or making learning real, relevant, creative, and engaging in his text. Students want to know why what they are learning is important and how they are going to use it in the future. I know I did, and I still do when I am learning something new. If it does not benefit me in any way, what purpose do I have for learning the material. When learning is connected to real life and given real meaning, students have a purpose to learn it and engagement increases. The Pythagorean Theorem Making a boring activity meaningful: If you were told that you were going to learn about the pythagorean theorem in geometry class, that honestly already sounds like a miserable experience. You may wonder “why do I need to be able to learn the third side of a triangle?” Well, if I started out the lesson by explaining that even though this lesson may seem boring, having this knowledge can benefit you in many ways in the future. For example, my father has worked in roofing and construction my entire life. Every night when I would do my homework at the kitchen table, he would draw out plans to figure up materials for his work. When working with roofs, the traditional shape of a roof is a triangle. Every night, he used the pythagorean theorem to figure out the amount of materials he would need for work where he could then check the prices for those materials and place bids on jobs. If he did not know how to use the pythagorean theorem, he could have messed up and not bought enough materials to finish the job, or he may have bid a job too low and lost money in completing the job simply because he could not use this simple math skill. I have used the pythagorean theorem myself in building small corner shelves for my home and in creating patterns for sewing projects. By realizing understanding the pythagorean theorem outside of school has value, learning is real, relevant, and purposeful, which. This is how making learning relevant could encourage students to want to learn. Prensky discusses the “digital natives” a lot throughout his text, explaining how the 21st century learner has grown up with more access to technology and tools than any other generation. Although most people ten years younger than me have had access to technology their entire lives, I have had access to increasingly more advanced technology in one form or another throughout my entire life as well. I can usually pick up a new device, whether it be a phone, tablet, computer, smart tv, etc. and within minutes I can use the device. If there is something that I am unfamiliar with or do not know how to do with technology, I can figure it out within minutes. My phone is a resource that I have constant access to and I use it as a tool daily. I use it as a dictionary, thesaurus, for quick research, to contact people both in my professional and personal life, play music, write papers, take notes, and so much more. My parents, on the other hand, and many of the teachers in my life (both my former teachers and now friends), are not nearly as comfortable with technology as I am. They spend a long time figuring out new devices, turn to me for help or quick advice, and do not use their devices to their greatest potential by any means. Many teachers shy away from implementing technology in the classroom because they are either unfamiliar with it themselves, or they do not want to change their ways of teaching. However, technology is the biggest untapped resource in schools in my opinion. Prensky encouraged teachers to use technology to enhance learning even if they were not the most familiar with it. As long as students can use it with little difficulty, teachers do not need to know the ins and outs of every device. I would also like to urge teachers who are scared of technology implementation in the classroom to simply give it an honest try. One example of how technology can make a lesson easier is in the case of a collaborative writing project. Collaborative writing papers that used to take weeks, involved lots of marked up papers, possibly losing materials, were hindered if a student was absent and did not bring their share of materials, etc. no longer have those difficulties. If a group were to use a cloud software, like Google Drive, all materials are in one place. All students can work on their document simultaneously, instantly communicate with one another, and all of their work is in one place. If a student is absent, they could even work with their group from home or simply look over the new additions to the work and work at their own pace/convenience. Currently and in the past year, collaborative learning in person has almost become impossible with covid-19. With technology integration, the ability to collaboratively learn is possible again. Technology, when used effectively, appropriately, and purposefully, is a great tool that can open many doors in education if only teachers will allow it. Overall, I enjoyed reading Prensky’s thoughts in Teaching Digital Natives: Partnering for Real Learning. Although the book is not the most recent resource, the ideals still stand and can be extremely beneficial today. There are many aspects form Prensky’s partnering pedagogy that I admire and hope to implement in my own classroom today as education as we know it will continue to progress.
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April 2021
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