The March issue of ASCD’s Educational Leadership includes Marc Prensky’s thought-provoking article, Turning On the Lights. The premise of his well-crafted piece is that schools need to embrace students’ technology-infused lives instead of asking them to “power down” their minds and mobile devices while in the classroom. As Prensky observes:

“Somehow, schools have decided that all the light that surrounds kids—that is, their electronic connections to the world—is somehow detrimental to their education. So systematically, as kids enter our school buildings, we make them shut off all their connections. No cell phones. No music players. No game machines. No open Internet. When kids come to school, they leave behind the intellectual light of their everyday lives and walk into the darkness of the old-fashioned classroom. What are they allowed to use? Basal readers. Cursive handwriting. Old textbooks. Outdated equipment.”

Although Prensky provides great insight into how we can “turn on the lights,” the question remains as to why so many educators and school systems are content (or even adamant in their desire) to leave students in the metaphorical darkness. One possible explanation is that unlike our young charges, many of us have not embraced the digital world.

Last year the Pew Internet & American Life Project published their research study, A Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users. The survey was designed to classify adults into different groups of technology users based on their assets, actions, and attitudes. Among the key findings:

• 8% of Americans are deep users of the participatory Web and mobile applications
• Another 23% are heavy, pragmatic tech adopters – they use gadgets to keep up with social networks or be productive at work
• 10% rely on mobile devices for voice, texting, or entertainment
• 10% use information gadgets, but find it a hassle
• 49% of Americans only occasionally use modern gadgetry and many others bristle at electronic connectivity

Consider again, in light of that last statistic, the nearly ubiquitous cell phones, gaming devices, and mp3 players that our students use to connect with the outside world as compared to adult digital activities:

While these statistics represent the general population, I would assert that teachers and administrators would at best be characterized by these levels of technology use and in all likelihood would fare much worse if actually surveyed. We ask students to “power down” because we are not “powered up” and thus cannot see the value of being connected in a mobile, information-rich world. We fear what we do not understand, and our response is to be dismissive rather than divergent in our thinking.

I’ll be the first to admit when I’m wrong, and it’s entirely possible that I have mischaracterized our profession in light of the Pew Internet data. Perhaps the 31% of the population who comprise the “Tech Elite” are in fact our nation’s educators. Perhaps there is little or no relationship between using technology and accepting technology. Perhaps there is nothing to worry about and our students will be content to learn in the dark. Perhaps, though, it’s time that we started turning on our own lights so we can see what we’ve been missing….

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Posted: 03|24|08 at 4:51 pm. Filed under: Curriculum, Professional Development.
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