Marc Prensky

The concepts of “teaching” and “training” are going through profound changes in our time—and not just because of technology. In the past, our educational goals evolved from “imitating” to “learning.” But to deal with our turbulent times, it is now necessary, says Marc Prensky, to adopt the far more far-reaching and useful goal of “becoming.” In our turbulent third millennium, with its coming deep exploration of both outer and virtual space, we need all our students and workers to become capable, good people who improve the world they live in. To succeed going forward, says Prensky, all students and all workers will need to master, in all their complex facets, the core skills of Effective Thinking, Effective Action, Effective Relationships and Effective Accomplishment—strongly supported by technology. In this original and insightful talk, Prensky shows audiences how such a “new core” can be integrated into our teaching and training, using a new methodology of “accomplishment-based education.” Prensky also shows how to avoid letting the “luster” of the new technologies mask the real progress we need in education and training.