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Marc Prensky
Biography

Marc is an internationally acclaimed speaker, author, and "practical visionary" in the field of education. Marc has spoken in over 40 countries, authored seven books, and published over 100 essays; his writing has been translated into a dozen languages. Coiner of the term "Digital Native" in 2001, he today promotes "civilization-level change" in global education, championing an emerging new "empowered to better their world" education paradigm that more directly benefits all students and the world they live in. Marc is the founder of The Global Future Education Foundation and Institute, a not-for-profit organization devoted to promoting Accomplishment-Based Education, and The Global Empowered Kids Alternative Education Network uniting all those in the world offering an "Empowered to Accomplish" education to kids. Marc holds an MBA degree from Harvard (with distinction) and a Masters in Teaching degree from Yale. He has taught at all levels, from elementary to college. Earlier in his career, Marc headed an early prototype charter school, spent six years at the Boston Consulting Group, and founded and ran a learning games company.

Marc Prensky
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Marc Prensky
Featured Keynote Programs

What The World Needs From Education

In a persuasive and refreshing way, Prensky argues positively for today’s kids. Contrary to the negativity currently in vogue, Prensky believes that the perception that technology harms kids is holding us, and them, back—tremendously. Our most pressing problem everywhere is how to get ready for a quickly arriving technology-filled future that will be very different from what we know from our own experience. Our young people, says Prensky, are already busy preparing themselves for their fast-arriving times—and we need to help them. Prensky, in this inspiring talk, shows us how. "You gave a truly inspiring lecture. The possibilities that lie in empowering our children and changing how we view them are amazing. I think that whenever I write a paper or go to work your words will be in the back of my mind."

UNLEASHING THE POWER OF OUR 21ST CENTURY KIDS through an "Education to Better Their World"

Based on Prensky's newest book, Education to Better Their World,: Unleashing the Power of 21st Century Kids, the talk highlights a fresh and emerging approach to education---based on Real, World-improving Projects + Applied Passion + Effective Thinking, Action, Relationships and Accomplishment---that far better fits tomorrow's needs and the new capabilities of our young people.

What our education should be about, says Prensky, is accomplishment that improves our world—with individuals improving in the process. The talk, filled with examples, is about developing young people’s capacity to create, through "applied passion," solutions that will make their world a better place, using means never before available. Prensky's totally different take on K-12 education offers an innovative and achievable vision of K-12 education that will far better prepare students of all backgrounds for their future.

Michael Fullan writes: “This book is a goldmine and a powerful wakeup call.” Milton Chen writes: “We need the better world Prensky envisions and we need it now.” John Seely Brown writes :"Wow. As a takeaway it is good--very good."

PREPARING EMPOWERED KIDS FOR THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW—CIVILIZATION-LEVEL CHANGE IN THE WORLD’S EDUCATIONAL PARADIGM

As the world moves quickly into a new, technology-dominated era, a new, civilization-level paradigm in education is emerging, bottom-up, around the world, observes Prensky. The new paradigm—a move from “personal academic achievement” to “empowerment and bettering their world” merges the "academic" tradition which has been dominant for some time in our schools, with the far older "accomplishment" educational tradition that has taken root in our businesses. The NEW END AND GOAL OF EDUCATION is bettering not just individuals, but their world and the individuals in the process. Prensky describes this emerging new paradigm and where it's appearing, showing both why it's important for tomorrow's kids and the world, and how to get there more quickly.

PROTECTING OUR YOUNG PEOPLE FROM COMING AUTOMATION

We all know that automation is coming fast, and that, as Prensky puts it, "anything that two people can do equally well can be, and will be automated." The only defense against this, Prensky argues, is for our young people to become UNIQUE in the combination of what they care about, what they are good at and what they love to do. This is not something our education currently fosters (in fact it does the opposite), but education can and should help all our kids become unique, good, effective, world-improving people. Prensky discusses how we can make this happen.

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The Accomplishment Track

Coming Automation And The Future Of Work

As our world quickly evolves, the "basics" required for future success are changing. To prepare our kids—fast becoming "symbiotic hybrids" with their increasingly powerful technology—we need to get them off our spoon-fed “pet food curriculum” and, from the very start of their schooling, and start them accomplishing the kinds of continuous, real-world-impact projects that are quickly replacing our traditional long-term jobs. In this talk, Prensky describes an emerging "accomplishment track" springing up around the world as an alternative to traditional academic education, along with numerous examples of what kids have already done. He shows how any teacher or district can offer this new and exciting possibility.

Commencement Speech Option

As the coiner of the terms "Digital Native" and "Digital immigrant" (now in the Oxford English Dictionary), Marc Prensky has always had a unique and positive view on the future of our young people.

Prensky sees today's graduates as metaphorical "rockets," who will go farther and faster, and explore more new worlds than any generation before. As explorers on a brand new frontier, this generation will go deep into the nano- and sub-atomic world, deeply explore the human brain, and be the first generation in to work and live in outer space. They will solve the coming problems of climate change, artificial intelligence, dark energy and more.

It is the most exciting time to ever be alive and a graduate!

Prensky will speak to the graduates about how, in a new world where everything that more than one person can do equally well will be taken over by machines, they must find their individual uniqueness as world-improving human beings. He will urge the graduates to connect and combine the problems they care about in the world with their personal, unique strengths and what they love to do, in order to build a life that is both personally satisfying and betters their world.

Marc Prensky holds degrees from both Harvard and Yale, has authored of seven books, and has been a powerful and inspiring speaker to audiences around the U.S. and in more than 40 countries for over 20 years. He will deliver a powerful commencement address that will be long-remembered.

THE NEW EDUCATIONAL PARADIGM FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM

A new paradigm for education is emerging in the world, going from the old "learning and personal accomplishment" to the new "becoming and real-world accomplishment." In this New Paradigm, the New Goal is "becoming," the New Pedagogy is "Real-world accomplishment" and the "New Core Curriculum" is Effective Thinking, Effective Action ,Effective Relationships and Effective Accomplishment, combined with strong Situational Awareness about the world, and an underlying foundation of technology..

GLOBAL EMPOWERED KIDS

“BECOMING” IN THE NEW AGE OF EMPOWERMENT

The era of just “learning” is over — students also have to “become” good, capable, empowered and world improving people. Rather than just "achieve," students now need to accomplish projects that benefit the real world.. They need to learn to think, act, relate and accomplish effectively, expressing their own unique interests and passions. In this talk, Prensky lays out the Emerging New Paradigm for 3rd Millennium K-12 Education, and shows who is already doing this, what their results are, and how we can all get there.

BRAIN GAIN

Technology and the Quest for Digital Wisdom

What You Need to Know to Expand Your Mind

Based on Prensky’s newest book, this is an optimistic, inspiring talk about how technology is expanding our business—and human—minds. It is the antidote for all those worried by the doom and gloom of scaremongering scenarios from writers like Nichols Carr (“Is Google Making Us Stupid?”) and others. While people have always made progress by enhancing themselves with tools, today more and more COGNITIVE enhancements are becoming possible, argues Prensky, leading to rapid Brain Gain. However to find the best symbiosis between what the brain does well and what machines do better, DIGITAL WISDOM is required.

If used wisely, today’s technology can enhance and extend our business and personal minds. But there are also many ways to use technology that are just “digitally clever” or even “digitally dumb.” In this talk, Prensky shows us the road to Digital Wisdom.

"Engage Me or Enrage Me"

Educating Today's "Digital Native" Learners

All educators are struggling to find ways to engage and connect students with learning. Marc Prensky is the leading expert on how today’s students (whom he refers to as Digital Natives) learn even when it isn’t apparent to digital immigrants. Join Prensky as he explains and demonstrates not only how today’s students have changed, but how educators can deal with the changes and learn from them. The key, says Prensky, is not curriculum, certification, or testing, but rather engagement. Today’s students are in need of more engaging approaches, more understanding and 21st century skills. The learning that motivates them the most is where students are already involved the most -- in their games.

“Don’t Bother Me Mom – I’m Learning”

How computer and video games are preparing your kids for 21st century success – and how you can help

Based on the new book by Marc Prensky (Paragon House 2006) the talk presents the case – profoundly counter-cultural but true nevertheless – that video and computer game playing, within limits, is actually very beneficial to today's ―Digital Native‖ kids, who are using the games to prepare themselves for life in the 21st century. The reason kids are so attracted to these games, Prensky says, is that they are learning about important ―future‖ things, from collaboration, to prudent risk taking, to strategy formulation and execution, to complex moral and ethical decisions. Prensky’s arguments are backed up by university PhD’s studying not just game violence, but games in their totality, as well as studies of gamers who have become successful corporate workers, entrepreneurs, leaders, doctors, lawyers, scientists and other professionals.
Because most adults (including most critics) can’t play the modern complex games themselves (and discount the opinions of the kids who do play them) they rely on secondhand sources of information, most of whom are sadly misinformed about both the putative harm and the true benefits of game-playing. This talk is the antidote to those misinformed, bombastic sources. Full of common sense and practical information, it provides parents with a large number of techniques approaches they can use – both over time and right away – to improve both their understanding of games and their relationships with their kids.

"Overcoming our Digital Immigrant Accents"

Understanding the implications of emerging Digital Native behaviors for education, training and learning

Many. If not most of today’s problems in education stem from a simple fact: Our students are no longer the ones our system and teachers were designed to teach! Based on the paper ―Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, which has been circulated and reprinted around the world, Prensky explains not only how today’s students have changed, but how we, as educators and parents can deal with the changes and learn from them. Prensky’s talk is full of practical, useful examples for teachers and parents to increase their connections to their students and kids. ―After your talk I went home and hugged my daughter,‖ is a typical reaction to this keynote.

“Give Us 21st Century Tools!”

New approaches to learning can bring engagement back to our students

Today’s educators – teachers and administrators – are struggling to find ways to get more engagement into their classrooms. In a message that was delivered, at their invitation, to the US Department of Education, Prensky argues that this generation is not in need of more content, but of more understanding, engagement, and 21st century skills. To best help our kids learn we need, says Prensky, to provide them with 21st century tools: individual computers, cell phones used for learning, and software tools that engage kids as they teach both the curriculum and the 21st century skills that most teachers do not even have. Prensky shows, through numerous examples, where we are in this quest, and how educators can participate and benefit.

“Education and Learning in the Twenty-first Century”

How, why, and what we need to do differently

The reason we are having problems with education in the twenty-first century is that everything is changing exponentially – especially the students. They are no longer ―little us’es‖, as they were in the past, and so for them to learn, we can’t do education the same old way. Despite our training and preferences as teachers and educators, we have to change. In this talk Prensky describes several key areas where change in attitudes and behaviors on the part of educators is necessary, including understanding our students, dealing with exponential change, achieving mutual respect, and sharing our successes

“Turning On The Lights”

Why school must compete, and how to do it

Based on an article by Marc Prensky to be published later this year in Educational Leadership Magazine, the talk introduces a new metaphor for understanding education in the 21st century, In the past, right up through the late 20th century, our kids grew up, intellectually, in the dark. They didn’t read or travel much, so they knew very little about the world – until, of course, they went to school. School’s job was to enlighten young people – to pull back the curtain, ―turn on the lights‖ and show them about the world. Education was a noble profession, and teaching a noble calling, because those were the people who showed kids the light.

Unfortunately for this approach, in the 21st century, our kids grow up in the light. They are connected by all their media – television, cell phones, the Internet, to the entire world, and they are aware of what is happening. Not that they understand everything – they are still children – but they know something about almost everything. If educators wanted to continue to be ―noble, ― they would use this change as a new starting point, and build on it, honing, refining and enlarging the capabilities that today’s students generally have. But what do we so often do instead? Systematically, as we bring kids into our schools, educators turn off their kids’ lights by making them shut down all their personal connections to the world – TV, cell phone, laptop, whatever. So, in effect, we pull the kids out of the light, back into the darkness. And instead of being the ―noble people‖ who show kids the light, educators and teachers become, in the minds of the students, the evil jailors who imprison them in the dark. And that is not a situation that will work for 21st century education. Prensky’s talk builds on the Dark/Light metaphor, and discusses several ways that we can – and must – act to ―turn on the lights‖ for our students, if we expect our schools to help them prepare for their 21st century lives.

Bottoms-Up

Deriving Maximum Value from Today’s Younger Workers

After years of debating the limitations of hierarchically-run organizations and the merits of democratization, the end of command-and-control management may finally be here, thanks to the people 25 and younger in our midst. Unprecedented changes in electronics and communications over the past 30 years have led to fresh patterns of thinking in these young ―digital natives‖ — a new generation of people who are collectively harnessing both new technology and new behavioral skills — often to effect dramatic change within the organizations that employ them. Unfortunately, many Digital Immigrant leaders — including many of those who claim to be ―plugged in‖ — don’t get the fact that digital natives bring unique capabilities to large organizations. In this talk Prensky highlights these changes and discusses their implications for today’s and tomorrow’s organizational leaders. If consulted, these young employees can be an enormous force for positive change and success in their companies. If ignored, they spend their brain cycles on the job plotting (in ways managers can’t control) how to make their own work lives, not their companies, better.

Marc Prensky
Featured Articles & Resources

BRAIN GAIN: Technology and the Quest for Digital Wisdom [INTERVIEW]

By Marc Prensky

Integrating Technology, Education, and the Workplace

::: A new book from Marc Prensky, released August 7 ::: “In an age where the answer to every question is at your fingertips, where does the human brain fit in?” In one...

VIDEO: Marc Prensky on Game-Based Learning

By Marc Prensky

Integrating Technology, Education, and the Workplace

SLS08-Videointerview: Marc Prensky "Der Game Designer" from Steffen Bueffel on Vimeo.

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Marc Prensky Featured Keynote Programs

What The World Needs From Education

UNLEASHING THE POWER OF OUR 21ST CENTURY KIDS through an "Education to Better Their World"

PREPARING EMPOWERED KIDS FOR THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW—CIVILIZATION-LEVEL CHANGE IN THE WORLD’S EDUCATIONAL PARADIGM

PROTECTING OUR YOUNG PEOPLE FROM COMING AUTOMATION

The Accomplishment Track Coming Automation And The Future Of Work

Commencement Speech Option

THE NEW EDUCATIONAL PARADIGM FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM

GLOBAL EMPOWERED KIDS “BECOMING” IN THE NEW AGE OF EMPOWERMENT

BRAIN GAIN Technology and the Quest for Digital Wisdom

"Engage Me or Enrage Me" Educating Today's "Digital Native" Learners

“Don’t Bother Me Mom – I’m Learning” How computer and video games are preparing your kids for 21st century success – and how you can help

"Overcoming our Digital Immigrant Accents" Understanding the implications of emerging Digital Native behaviors for education, training and learning

“Give Us 21st Century Tools!” New approaches to learning can bring engagement back to our students

“Education and Learning in the Twenty-first Century” How, why, and what we need to do differently

“Turning On The Lights” Why school must compete, and how to do it

Bottoms-Up Deriving Maximum Value from Today’s Younger Workers

Marc Prensky Featured Review

Marc Prensky Featured Articles & Resources

BRAIN GAIN: Technology and the Quest for Digital Wisdom [INTERVIEW]

By Marc Prensky

Integrating Technology, Education, and the Workplace

VIDEO: Marc Prensky on Game-Based Learning

By Marc Prensky

Integrating Technology, Education, and the Workplace

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Marc Prensky
Biography

Marc Prensky
Featured Videos

Marc Prensky
Featured Keynote Programs

The Accomplishment Track

Coming Automation And The Future Of Work

GLOBAL EMPOWERED KIDS

“BECOMING” IN THE NEW AGE OF EMPOWERMENT

BRAIN GAIN

Technology and the Quest for Digital Wisdom

"Engage Me or Enrage Me"

Educating Today's "Digital Native" Learners

“Don’t Bother Me Mom – I’m Learning”

How computer and video games are preparing your kids for 21st century success – and how you can help

"Overcoming our Digital Immigrant Accents"

Understanding the implications of emerging Digital Native behaviors for education, training and learning

“Give Us 21st Century Tools!”

New approaches to learning can bring engagement back to our students

“Education and Learning in the Twenty-first Century”

How, why, and what we need to do differently

“Turning On The Lights”

Why school must compete, and how to do it

Bottoms-Up

Deriving Maximum Value from Today’s Younger Workers

Marc Prensky
Featured Review

Marc Prensky
Featured Articles & Resources