FIRST of all: It’s a new world. The Net is us/using us. But school keeps looking like this: Maintaining classroom discipline. What’s new in education right now? So: Writing on a board still doesn’t work in a total learning situation. What does? According to Mark Prensky’s article: Do they learn differently? Neuroscience says yes!
“Children raised with the computer think differently from the rest of us. They develop hypertext minds. They leap around. It’s as though their cognitive structures were parallel, not sequential.
Linear thought processes that dominate educational systems now can actually retard learning for brains developed through game and Web-surfing processes on the computer. Some have surmised that teenagers use different parts of their brain and think in different ways than adults when at the computer. We now know that it goes even further – their brains are almost certainly physiologically different. But these differences, most observers agree, are less a matter of kind than a difference of degree. For example as a result of repeated experiences, particular brain areas are larger and more highly developed, and others are less so.” (Marc Prensky Digital Natives Digital immigrants © 2001 Marc Prensky)
If kids are engaged in working, the only result can be growth. Visual and creative thinking: What we learned from Peter Pan and Willy Wonka: “There is no life to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you’ll be free if you truly wish to be.” (Willy Wonka) Wake up latent childhood! As children, our world is dominated by stories, pictures and imaginations. This statement is a myth: Creativity is for adults with serious careers.
Do you have any sacred cows? Sometimes an idea loses its meaning over time, but it isn’t abandoned because of its investment in the past. These ideals are often so immune to criticism that those who challenge them are ignored or marginalized. 80 percent of the brain is dedicated to visual learning. Visual processing is not new, its part of our history. Written language originated from drawing and sketching.
Teresita I. Capitulo
Master Teacher I
Capas West Central School
O’Donnell, Capas, Tarlac