“Engagement is more important than content.”
I came across a wonderful set of podcasts created by Ewan McIntosh which were recorded at a seminar in Shropshire, UK. Basically it is about the different ways we, as teachers, can engage and motivate students. The main idea is that technologies, such IM, video games and personal web pages are changing how students learn outside the classsroom, and that we have to utilise some of these changes in order to engage students in lessons
Prensky argues that If students are engaged then learning will happen, in fact it is difficult to prevent. This is something that I’ve seen a number of times with students I’ve taught. As I tell parents if I can find the right “button” to press i.e. find a topic, hobby or interest that inspires them, students will learn for themselves and all I have to do is point them in the right direction.
Another important point that Prensky made was that while all learning requires effort, in certain conditions this effort can seem like play rather than work. If we can engage student’s interest than real learning can take place without it seeming like work in the traditional sense.
I’m not sure that Greek student’s lives have become as “digitised” as their American counterparts, since only a minority use the internet regularly, though video games are popular, especially with boys. Even the use of mobile phones is necessarily limited by their expense. Still, young Greeks have rapidly adopted and mastered these technologies and so, according to Prensky, are learning in a completely different way to their parent’s and (my) generation.
Thanks again to Ewan McIntosh for taking the effort to record and post the podcasts.