The environment in which children grow up affects HOW they learn, WHAT they learn, and what they WANT to learn. Today, children spend more time glued to screens than ever before and then often use highly structured rather than open-ended toys when they have time to play. The media and toys focus children on following someone else's program rather than on their own problems and creative activities. This environment is diametrically opposed to what theorists like Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky say children need for optimal learning and development. Thus, many children arrive at school without the foundations they need to construct knowledge and build skills through creative play and problem solving. Using theorists such as Piaget and Vygotsky, this session will explore what children need to become active, effective learners. It will explain how what is happening in today's environment is undermining this process and contributing to a more remote-controlled learning process for children. It will show how this change in children's learning contributes to 1) many of the challenges teachers face today in their regular work with young children, 2) the many external pressures teachers often feel to "teach" to externally determined standards, and 3) a more remote-controlled teaching process. Practical strategies for combating remote-controlled teaching and learning will be presented using compelling examples from teachers who have successfully counteracted it.