Marc Prensky and Passions

Students' passions can play a key role in their learning process. There are various types of passions, some of which students are well aware of but a students' passion may be still hidden from his or her own self-knowledge. Students want their teacher to care for them and respect whatever his or her passion might be. This helps the mutual respect between teacher and students'. A teacher cannot just touch the surface when it comes to their students' passions and rely on that. They much delve deep and learn it in much more detail. These passions are the routes in which partnering teachers can create individualized learning that will actually stick in the students' minds and be of some value in their lives. If you can do this then you leave them wanting more. Student learning and work can be filtered through their personal preferences, likes, and dislikes.

Marc Prensky and I appear to be right on the same page in regards to passion. I want my future students to actually have knowledge that will be relevant in their lives and be able to attain this knowledge and present it in a way that works best for them. I can guide them towards where they can go, but it truly up to them to decide their own directions and where they will end up at the end of their academic career. Student's want a voice in the classroom and I believe they deserve one. If that means working with technology that they love or teaching the class then I support that. However, I cannot speak for all teachers because some are not comfortable with letting their students explore the content in a way that suits them. Prensky is a big proponent of allowing students to explore the technology and this can be so vital to partnering.They can teach educators, which many teachers are hesitant about. Teachers, often, do not like to allow their student's to use technology that they are unfamiliar with. However, a student that is passionate enough about a certain type of technology could teach me or the rest of my class and we would all probably benefit.

A classmate of mine, Mary Owens, pointed out an additional article that I had read from a previous class called “Lessons from Skateboarders” by Richard Sagor. It described different kinds of motivation and the need to incorporate this in our classroom. The article pointed out how a boy might spend 4 hours after school practicing tricks on his skateboard. He or she might fall numerous times, but he continues to get up and try again. This same child might not do his homework or participate in class. Maybe he’s labeled “unmotivated” and yet, he seems so motivated after school. Teachers do not realize that their students are highly motivated individuals. They just need to find a way to tap into the motivation and a great way is through exploring what the students are most passionate about.