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WEEK 3 Quote: - " Research by social psychologists show that people who grow up in different cultures do not just think about different things, they actually think differently. The environment and culture in which people are raised affects and even determines many of their thought processes." (Prensky, 2001, p 4)

Let's face it, the 21st century learner IS a different culture. They have access to and use things we teachers have rarely or never heard of, or at least know very little about...blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, modding (programming), podcasting....the list goes on. It's like, for many of us, we educators fell asleep on night and woke up in this futuristic land--still on earth--where it is an entirely different culture and they speak an unfamiliar language. This is where I was a few years ago. This is only my second year to have a website. I always thought they were time-consuming and it would be hard to set-up and maintain. The truth was, I really didn't know, and once I was showed how to do it (in about 30 minutes), I realized how wrong I was.

I think the first reaction to this alien world is fear. Fear of what we don't know, and not even knowing where to start to know what we don't know. Panic ensues and the next reaction is to try to "slow down" what's going on (i.e. denying access to connectivity instead of setting up guiding parameters to facilitate it). When that happens, everyone loses--administrators, teachers, librarians, and students. Then, after we get a bit used to our surroundings, some of us are curiously trying to figure out how to adapt to this "new culture", while others haven't realized they are not sleeping anymore. This is not a dream of some "futuristic land"--THIS IS THE FUTURE! Technology is like a giant dandelion-hydra in the middle of this futuristic city and the wind is blowing its ever-regenerating spores everywhere! Sooner or later, you just gotta hang on to one of them and let it take off! Enjoy the ride and the pleasure of "learning" again. After all, we expect our students to desire to be "life-long learners." Why should we be any different? You don't have to learn about "everything", and certainly not "all at once". BUT ... educators MUST make the decision to "start digging in"! If we don't start to "catch-up"--and soon-- we won't stand a chance. Educators will be over-taken by this increasingly fast-growing plant if we don't learn how to take control of it.

Works Cited: Prensky, Marc. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 2: Do They Really Think Differently?, 4.