Wisdom in Digital Form

by Virginia Petitt - Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Marc Prensky, famous for his depiction of people as Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants, has come up with a new term, Digital Wisdom, to describe the results of living in the Digital Era on the human brain. Prensky believes that both cognition and wisdom will evolve as a result. According to Prensky, “Technology alone will not replace intuition, good judgment, problem-solving abilities, and a clear moral compass. But in an unimaginably complex future, the digitally unenhanced person, however wise, will not be able to access the tools of wisdom that will be available to even the least wise digitally enhanced human.” There are obvious implications for education, specifically, to stop asking students to memorize arcane facts that they can look up on Google.

Prensky’s entire article can be found on the Innovate website: http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=705&action=article

Cross-posted at http://virsions.blogspot.com

Are Textbooks Important?

Jay Mathews' article, "Most Textbooks Should Stay On the Shelf," is thought-provoking. Textbooks are updated every few years requiring the teacher to revamp lessons (is that a bad thing?), teachers become dependent upon textbooks, they are often dry and boring, and, shockingly, are not always accurate or up-to-date.

Web sites, podcasts, electronic books, software, courseware, online tutoring tips, educational games, and video products are just a few alternative sources. Teachers can use primary source documents, journal articles and other original materials as they create hands-on assignments. In fact, says Mathews, why not have them write chapters to their own text books...