I have mixed feelings about the internet. On one hand, it rocks. If I hear a good song on the radio in the morning, I can usually have it on my iPod in time for my walk to class. I almost never have to use a stamp and I barely get any paper mail. I can research pretty much anything and even use the school's resources remotely. It's an awesome tool that I can't imagine not having.
I do think kids lose part of the whole experience of education when it becomes so easy and passive to collect information. I remember when I was in elementary school and I would go to my grandma's house at night to use her encyclopedia's to do research for a paper. I remember taking the bus to the public library in junior high. When I got my first computer in high school, I didn't have to go anywhere anymore and I found out very quickly that it's much less fun to sit in one place and be able to accomplish the entire assignment. There is something much more satisfying and organic about getting out into the world and learning something.
Technology cannot replace the teacher. Kids will always need to congregate together to recieve instruction from an educated shaper of minds. I think teachers need to come up with ways for their students to use the technology to their advantage, but without sacrificing the physical act of gaining information in person.
It's hard to say that technology isn't convenient, fun and extremely useful, but it can get annoying. My cell phone feels like a ball and chain every now and then. It's like I can't hide from anyone and sometimes it's nice to be unreachable.
Wikipedia rocks because anyone can contribute or challenge the information. Who says the guys who put encyclopedia's and other reference materials together know anything. I like that some guy in Montana who might be a little off his rocker, but knows how to make a bomb out of household chemicals and cow manure, can get online and share with us his invaluable knowledge. Obviously that is a joke, but you get the idea.
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I think the internet is a good source to use, but to an extent. I believe students should go to the library and find articles, books, journals or any other source to do a research paper, just like you did when you where in junior high. I know the internet has a lot of things to contribute to a research paper, but students have to know their is always valuable information somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the internet is good and bad. I remember having to go to the college libraries to do research for my big papers in high school. My teachers always required so many books, periodicals, etc for our papers. I think that as long as we have similar requirements, students can get the best of both worlds.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you the internet has great things like pandora for music and keeping in touch through e-mail but the question is for kids and their education. The internet does all the research for kids where they never have to look up anything or think about their research in long processes.
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