Marcie Hull and I are presenting at the Montgomery County Community College Technology and Learning Conference. Marc Prensky is the keynote speaker.

Here are my notes from the presentation… with very little commentary, just the stuff that I was hearing and seeing as he spoke… Marcie and I were both really struck by how much his points were echoed in what we’re trying to do at SLA.

"Engage Me or Enrage Me" –> Educating Today’s Digital Native Learners

Twitch Speed –> the speeed at which our fingers move on a controller

"Are we generating engagement?"
Are we doing New Things in New Ways
Are we fostering mutual respect?

What’s So Different about the 21st Century?
The need to understand and deal with change…
—> our expectations have changed because of digital technology.
—> "Nothing Ever Wears Out." Our tools change before our old tools wear out.

How much change is coming… it doesn’t end. The change, the speed, the new tools… and no one — not educators or anyone else — really understands what it means.

Maybe our kids know. Why? They live it.

Ender’s Game — is the game the test? Is the game the reality?

Educators are having problems because:
1) The World is Changing
2) Our Students Are Changing
3) Engagement is Changing
4) Tools are Changing
5) Education is Changing

What do our students want?
— it was our list.

We can no longer give kids content, we have to ask.

We must co-create knowledge.

We have to experiment and invent. We have to change. We have to adapt.

How do we combine random access / hyper-text with logical thinking?

Linear Processing v. Parrallel Processing

Stand-Alone v. Connected

We have a Digital Immigrant Accent
– Printing Out Our Emails
– Not Going to the Internet First for info
– Needing a Printed Copy for Editing
– Not Using or liking IM
– Thinking "Real Life" happens only off-line
– Assuming teaching equals learning
– Knowing DOS

We must Generate Engagement
— If a learner is motivated, there’s no stopping him." — Will Wright
"Learning comes from passion, not discipline." — N. Negroponte

Learning Feels like Play when you have engagement.

Engagement is more important than Content because content will change.

Invent New Tools to Solve Problems

We are all learners
We are all teachers

Today’s Games —
They are complex –> 8-100 hours.
A complex game take the same amount of time as a course (30-100 hours)

What are the lessons of the video games:
– Goals (be a hero) — if you learn skills, they are in service of the goal.
– Decision Making
– Adaptivity
– Iteration
– Cooperation and Competition

We should use simulations because learning to DO is good, especially when combined with the language of why.