Engage or Enrage

Engaging learners is essential to the rest of a student's learning process and I love the reference in the article of Prensky's (2005) Engage or Enrage that "today's kids are not a ADD they're EoE." -  They want everything so quick and my colleagues and I call it the "quick fix" - in and out just to get it done!

Engaging - I have found if students do not understand something or see no relevance to what they are learning they do not see the point in it. Prensky definitely touches on the attitudes of both teachers and learners and it seems that the "students who tune us out," are more prevalent now as technology has rapidly changed. 
I work with the students who are disengaging or disengaged from mainstream schooling for a number of different reasons. The strategies I use to engage the students in the program I run would relate to what they already know, what they are interested in and what is relevant in their lives right now.  In saying this, Prensky's reference to using what already engages them (video games, you-tube, online social networking systems) is relevant and important - might as well engage them on what they are already engaging in, instead of inventing new strategies?

Also what I found interesting, that I have not really thought about was the many different activities young people are engaged in already through technology that helps them stay connected - social networking, gaming etc. Engaging in society more I would have considered activities like sports, dance, music club and so forth. I do still think they are important too because it is more people contact and physical - but I would never had thought to consider the prior as an "engaging" activity - "kid today hah!"