"Adopt or Adapt: Shaping Tech for the Classroom"

I understand why Marc Prensky would feel frustrated at seeing teachers not using technology to its fullest capabilities. But it seems as if Prensky is a bit too enthusiastic about the use and value of technology.

Prensky’s response to the statement that “Some people will no doubt worry that, with all this experimentation, our children's education will be hurt,” was an emphasis on how much faster students will learn if only teachers would implement more technology into the classroom and curriculum. Then Prensky went on stating that, “the faster kids [students who comprehended the lesson faster] would work with and pull up the ones who were behind.”

First of all, Prensky never addressed the issue about students who might get hurt from the experiment of implementing new ways of teaching with technology. Secondly, I disagree with the second part of what Prensky said about faster kids helping the kids behind. I understand that this would be the ideal way of learning but it’s unrealistic to believe that the kids who advance faster than others will willingly help the kids behind. If the students were good natured enough to do this, their parents may not want them to be in a class where they spent their time helping other kids when they can be advancing even more elsewhere.

But I do agree with the fact that technology needs to be implemented into a classroom more and more because the next generation of students are becoming more and more immersed in the world of technology. But I believe that this should be done gradually. A little test here and there to see if something works or not is better than completely changing the way a classroom works and its curriculum.