Neuroplasticity

You'll see two names quite a bit when you read around in brain research - or more correctly, in interpretation of brain research. Back in the day (that is only a few years ago!) it was Eric Jensen. He is still active but two new names I see lots are Marc Prensky and Ian Jukes.

I posted on Prensky last time. Jukes has some interesting things to say about neuroplasticity which means that the brain is always able to reconfigure/reconnect based on the things it experiences and the intensity of those experiences vs the static understanding we had until recently that said the brain is set by age 3 and not much can change after that.

His short video clip and pdf file on that blog challenge us to think in new ways about how we teach. Are we preparing students for the future or for the present/past we know/knew and experienced? He has some provocative things to say about left brain and right brain thinking. The blog says some thought provoking things about the differences between the way digital natives and digital immigrants learn.