Thursday, November 4, 2010

Children Live in a World that they Create




In this RSA animation "The Secret Powers of Time," Professor Philip Zimbardo breaks down the impact our varied perspectives on Time have on our way of life. Through his analysis, he is able to articulate what is required for us to educate 21st Century children.

"By the time a boy is 21 years old, he has spent 10,000 hours playing video games alone...it means that they live in a world that they create....which is exciting. Their brains are being digitally rewired. They will never fit in a traditional classroom, which is analogue. Someone talks at you without even the nice pictures. Meaning: it's boring. You control nothing; you sit there passively. If you want to change the curriculum, Traditionalists say you have to go back to Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. Disaster! These kids will never fit into that. They have to be in a situation where they are controlling something. And school is set up so you control nothing. School is set up to delay gratification - endlessly."

Watch!