"Future-cation" - Virtual Keynote Presentation

In January 2012 I attended the FETC conference in Orlando.  I would highly recommend this conference to any person involved with Educational Technology.  The keynote sessions were excellent, and the conference offered literally hundreds of break-out sessions to choose from.  Since attending the conference, I have taken part in two of the free virtual conference events which have been offered by FETC.  Thursday I listened in on a number of sessions offered as part of the 2013 Virtual FETC event.  For those who missed it, I believe sessions can still be accessed by registering here. 
The keynote session by Marc Prensky was titled "FUTURE-CATION: New Basics and New Balance For a New Age".  In the 60 minute presentation Marc addressed three big questions:
1. What is the goal of education?
2. How do we teach for the future?
3. What should we teach in the 21st century?

Marc suggested that "our kids see a world in which everything is more variable, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, rapidly changing, and connected."  And unlike us, these kids never knew a world that was not that way.  According to Marc the goal of education is different for society, teachers, and kids.  He suggested the main focus of education should not be on the "learning" but on the "becoming".  We should be preparing students by helping them become good, capable people, and learning should just be the means to this goal.

As for how to teach for the future, Marc proposed that education can no longer function from the top down.   "The goal is to make all of our students (and citizens) effective 'Nodes on the Network,' because in the future 'Education' will have less to do with courses, diplomas and exams and far more to do with everyone's becoming linked to resources, and to each other... With teachers as coaches and Guides... and, of course, with more technology".

An idea I really liked is Marc's suggestion that technology should be viewed not as a tool, but as a foundational skill.  He listed a number of "Skills" he called verbs.  These included things like thinking critically; presenting logically; communicating; persuading; being rigorous; understanding context; and creating emotion.  The verbs are things that "stay the same".  Marc compared "Tools" to nouns, and suggested that these change rapidly.  Examples included the shift from books to e-books; blackboards to electronic boards; laptops to tablets; and Powerpoint to Prezi.  What I really liked was Marc's suggestion that we "teach and assign only verbs and give students their choice of nouns."  he is not concerned that technology will replace teachers because it lacks "respect, empathy, and passion".

Marc concluded the presentation by addressing what teachers should focus on in teaching.  I agreed with his viewpoint that we should not just use technology to teach old things better.  Technology should be used to advance our pedagogy and to be used in new an innovative ways.  Marc stated that our problem in education is that we teach too much from and about the past and we teach it in the wrong context.  He dubbed this type of teaching "Past-ucation".  Past-ucation worked in education in the past because the world changed slowly, and in that context past-ucation worked well.  Instead, Marc proposed that the focus on education today should not be for or about the past, but for and about the future.  To do that, Marc feels schools should focus less on the "MESS"
Math
English
Science
Social Studies
and more on the new core basics: Effective Thinking; Effective Action; Effective Relationships; and Effective Accomplishments.

How might you respond to some of the reflection questions Marc proposed to participants?
1. How do you balance the past with the future in your school?
2. List as many things as you can in your school that would constitute Future-cation.  What would you add?
3. How would you integrate the subjects currently taught in your school into the areas of "Thinking, Action, Relationships, and Accomplishments"?  What tasks would you have students do under each of the new basics?