Profile by The Marc Prensky Legacy Project Team

Marc Prensky didn’t just observe the future - he showed us how to prepare for it. As a practical visionary, he coined the terms “Digital Natives” and “Digital Immigrants” (both in the Oxford English Dictionary) and spent decades challenging parents, educators, and policymakers to stop preparing children for a world that no longer exists.

Before becoming one of the world’s most influential voices on technology and learning, Marc began as a math teacher in East Harlem, New York City. After earning an MBA with distinction from Harvard, he worked at prominent corporations. He later founded a company that pioneered corporate training through digital games - long before “gamification” became a buzzword.

He authored a dozen books, culminating in his final work, Third Millennium Kids: Helping Young People Thrive in an Age of Exponential Technology Change (August 2024).

Marc was a keynote speaker in 50 countries, often inviting young people on stage to demonstrate what they could accomplish when adults stopped underestimating them.

Marc passed in 2025, but his spirit continues to inspire. Until his health no longer allowed it, Marc attended weekly AI developer meetings, staying at the forefront of the technological changes he knew would transform childhood. He demanded that adults stop fearing the next generation, stop forcing them into the past, and start empowering them to become something new, bold, and transformative.

Learn more about Marc: https://marcprensky.com