Marc Prensky was an award-winning, internationally acclaimed speaker, author, and practical visionary who transformed the way the world understands education and young people in the digital age.
He was best known for coining the terms “Digital Natives” and “Digital Immigrants,” both now included in the Oxford English Dictionary. An enduring testament to the impact of his ideas.
Marc devoted his life to helping educators, leaders, and learners reimagine what education could be in a rapidly changing world. His work centered on a simple but powerful belief: young people are far more capable than society often recognizes. Our educational systems must evolve to help them thrive in the world they are growing into, not the world of the past. He encouraged educators to shift from merely teaching content to empowering young people to solve real problems, create meaningful work, and make a difference.
A native New Yorker with an energetic, inquisitive mind, Marc began his career as a math teacher. At the same time, he pursued a parallel passion for music as a professional classical guitarist and lute player. He performed in venues across and over New York City and also made appearances on Broadway.
After years of performing, Marc sought a broader stage and enrolled at Harvard Business School, where he earned his MBA with distinction. This leap transformed his path, leading him into a world where business strategy, technology, and education converged. At The Boston Consulting Group, he became the firm’s Product Development Director.
Marc’s work later took him to senior roles at MicroMentor and Bankers Trust, where he created lively, game-based training tools that made learning complex regulations unexpectedly enjoyable. This early fusion of learning and play foreshadowed what would become one of his most defining achievements.
In the late 1990s, Marc founded Games2Train, dedicated to using video games for corporate learning. While developing these games, he made a key observation – young people who grew up immersed in digital technology thought, communicated, and learned differently than any previous generation. This insight sparked his landmark 2001 book, Digital Game-Based Learning, and the introduction of “Digital Natives” and “Digital Immigrants,” concepts that swiftly spread around the world and reshaped the global conversation about kids, technology, and learning.
Marc went on to write eleven more books and speak in 50 countries. He had a gift for making people see the future not with fear, but with possibility. He challenged audiences to rethink tradition, aim higher, and trust young people more deeply.
In his later work, Marc championed the idea of Empowerment Hubs which is local, youth-driven initiatives designed to help young people take meaningful action, create real-world impact, and discover a sense of purpose. He believed that when young people feel empowered, they don’t just learn more – they change the world.
Marc’s academic journey reflected his insatiable curiosity and love of learning. He earned degrees from Oberlin College, the Middlebury Graduate School in France, Yale University, and Harvard Business School. He also taught at every level, from elementary school to college.
In his final years, Marc became deeply engaged in the world of artificial intelligence. He attended weekly meetings with AI developers, constantly asking questions, exploring new tools, and imagining future possibilities. He even created a digital twin of himself not as a novelty, but as a way to extend his voice and ideas into the future he cared so passionately about. Marc believed wholeheartedly in the potential of technology and even more in the potential of the young people growing up with it.
Marc Prensky will be remembered not only for his ideas, but for his spirit: curious, bold, imaginative, and endlessly optimistic about what young people can accomplish. His vision of an empowered, purposeful generation continues to inspire educators, innovators, and thinkers around the world.