Last night my School Council arrived “pumped”, many of them having just viewed “Most Likely to Succeed“. We, of course, began talking about what resonated with them, and what they would like to see for their children at our school.
I shared with them my most recent reading: Marc Prensky’s “Education to Better Their World”. His framework of:
- Effective Thinking
- Effective Action
- Effective Relationships
- Effective Accomplishment
aligns with the vision of Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith. But the genuine action, relationships and accomplishment presented by Prensky (@marcprensky ) has the potential to change the world!
Prensky states that “today, applying passion comes too late in education”. In order for students to actually use effective thinking, effective action, and effective relationships, we need to:
- Create an effective system for enabling kids to do real-world projects and for evaluating them;
- Share a full sense of what the subjects, breadth, and goals of these projects would and could be; and
- Connect students with appropriate projects that they will be passionate about.
Prensky’s consideration of the difference between ACHIEVEMENT and ACCOMPLISHMENT provided me with a useful framework to examine our curriculum and instructional practices, and the role that technology can play to empower our students. It has been fifteen years since Prensky coined the term “digital native”, and it is clear that he is continuing to examine our world, and reframe it in a way to help drive innovation.
(For a summary of Marc Prensky’s thinking, check out this summary article or video)
Terry Whitmell, PhD 
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