Marc Prensky

I recently read two articles written by Marc Prensky. The first article is titled Before Bringing in New Tools, You Must First Bring in New Thinking and the second article is titled Using Cell Phones for Exams. I did my best to read these articles with an open mind, tossing all of my previous thoughts and opinions to the wind. While reading the second article, however the wind blew them back in my face.


Prensky’s article, Before Bringing in New Tools, You Must First Bring in New Thinking, provides the reader with pointers and ideas for integrating technology into the classroom. One of Prensky’s suggestions was setting up a video chat with a professional on a topic that the class is learning about. This could either go really well or not well at all. Assuming that the technology works perfectly (which one can never assume) this could be a wonderful opportunity for students to talk to professionals all around the world. This is something that students would not have access to without technology. On the other hand, if the program quits working or if there is a problem with the connection, the students will be disappointed and the teacher will have to try to get them to pay attention to a completely different exercise (which will not be easy if it involves reading out of the book).


Prensky wants educators and students to think about what they want to use their technology for before making any purchases; this way schools will not end up with technology that goes untouched. This is a valid point, because why waste money on one piece of technology when you could have added so much more to your students’ learning experience with a different type of technology? The thing about technology is that it is almost instantly outdated and easily broken. Books last forever and do not run the risk of being dropped and ruined. If a laptop or iPad is dropped it runs a high risk of being destroyed. Will schools have to provide a student with a second iPad or computer if they break it? Will the child’s family have to pay for the broken piece of technology? What if the family cannot afford it? What if the school replaces a broken laptop only to have the second one destroyed as well? There are many questions to think about when deciding how much technology should be integrated in the classroom.


Prensky’s second article, Using Cell Phones for Exams, was more far-fetched than the first article. It is true when he states that education needs to change with the times in order for our children to be able to function in the world when they are adults, but I just cannot get over the fact that he wants to allow cell phones in the classroom for tests. Prensky defends his point by saying that adults are able to consult others and look up information if they do not know something. Do you want your doctor googling how to remove an appendix? I sure don’t. Prensky also says that we do not need to know multiplication facts or where countries are located because we have calculators and maps readily at our disposal. This is true in part, but if that information was already in our heads it would be much quicker to access than having to look up the answer. I know because I am not very good at memorization and it is not hard to tell how much quicker I could solve a math problem or find a country without having to look it up.


Technology is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives, but how much is too much technology? Is it really that much more beneficial that we need to use iPads instead of books? Although technology can become a great aid in the classroom, we need to make sure that we are examining all the positives and negatives for our students.