“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” (William Butler Yeats) Some people, including children, have a natural ability to think. Many children, especially African Americans, spend their time on internet sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and more. The information taken from these websites is also a prominent source for a person’s learning ability. They can take any information given to them and analyze it. It is presumed true that people are only more intelligent because of the internet. The internet gives people something to read and study. Once a person reads on the internet, the knowledge tends to stick. People who continue to research on the internet are bound to grow more and more educated as time reveals. It makes it easier for children to improve their reading abilities. The internet is a credited source when dealing with its ability to help people think and learn, but is the internet really making people more intelligent? According to a report by the Pew Research Center, 87% of 12 to 17-year-olds use the internet. Researchers have investigated whether the internet makes children smarter. Linda Jackson and her team conducted a study in which they gave away several computers and provided free internet access to families. Jackson, a psychologist, concluded that the internet increased the number of students who passed the state reading test and improved their grade point averages. They compared children who did not use the internet often to those who used it daily. Over a one-year and sixteen-month period, children who used the internet more became more competent in keeping their grades above average. The internet also improved their thinking ability and made it easier for them to understand context.
With one easy click on the search button, Google grants entry to a reservoir of information for our use. Carr acknowledges that the internet “has been a godsend to [him] as a writer” because of the ease of finding information rapidly (Carr 732). Before, he would spend days searching through lengthy articles for the same material. Thus, web-browsing proves that not only is the internet useful for finding relevant information, but it is a time-saving tool. In today’s gener...
Stating that the scholars examined computer logs documenting the behavior of visitors who chose two sites that have several information outlets. The results showed that people showed a form of ‘skimming activity’, which supports him main argument of having troubles with deep reading (737). Further down on the same page, he states “It is clear that users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are signs that new forms of ‘reading’ are emerging as users ‘power browse’ horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts going for quick wins. It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense.” This statement supports his pathos appeal of how the reader will be able to relate to it, including himself. Another pathos tactic would be when he states “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet ski.” A use of imagery to differ how he used to be able to thoroughly read a book, rather than now due to the convenience of the internet. An ethos appeal is when he uses a quote of Maryanne Wolf, an author, and a developmental psychologist at Tufts University, “We are not only what we read, though we are how we read. (737)” This is yet an additional credible support to his
The internet has made things quick and easy to accomplish, but it has had negative effects on concentration and the reading abilities of individuals. The internet is changing many thing around us, but maybe not all are good changes.
Does the internet make us smarter or dumber is a question that has been asked more frequently, especially when referring to my generation. In Nicholas Carr’s article “Does the Internet Making Us Smarter or Dumber?” he adamantly believes that the internet is in fact making us dumber with its various distractions, hindering cognitive development, and affecting our knowledge retention. He supports his belief with studies such as the one conducted at a university where students were divided and only half were allowed to use their computers during class while the others were not (Carr,22) . The outcome showed that those who did not use the internet did better on the tests (22). After reading this article it made me ask the question myself and I believe that the internet is making me smarter in certain ways and dumber in others.
Harris and Greenfield make many claims about how technology if negatively affecting children and their growth out of maturity and into real life. One of these is that the brain adapts to the things it experiences. Hours of internet use causes the brain to change itself to work best for internet use and not in the reality of the world. Also, if children are spending so much time on the internet, they are not going outside and getting sun, exercise, and excitement from the natural things around them. All of these things are important to the growth of a child. Children are also becoming unable to deeply think about their ideas and how to express them clearly. In line with that, they expect instant answers and quick rewards, therefore losing the ability to wait and be
In the recent discussions of the Internet and its effect on its users, a controversial issue has been whether or not the Internet usage is affecting our cognitive abilities. On one hand, some argue that the Internet is weakening our capacity for concentration and contemplation. Specifically, Nicholas Carr argues that excessive Internet use is leading to a lack of deep thinking and focus. On the other hand, however, others argue that the Internet combined with human brain power is beneficial rather than harmful. In the words of New York Times author, Clive Thompson, one of this view’s main proponents, “But our digital tools can also leave us smarter even when we’re not actively using them.” According to this view, this issue needs to be addressed
Technology today is very widespread; it has become extremely accessible and easy to use. So easy, that some children begin using technology before they are even in school. There are many benefits of technology, but only if it is used properly. Children that use technology too frequently and at too young of an age suffer from altered brain function, subpar education, and decreased social skills.
In an era where all of the world’s information is readily available at our fingertips, it is difficult to imagine what life was like before the Internet. Today. people get anxiety attacks at the thought of a slow wireless connection. God forbid a webpage takes five minutes to load; we are left with rage and disappointment. Is the Internet making people stupid? Despite the fact that research on the detrimental effects of the Internet is still young, there is no doubt that the Internet is changing the way one thinks, but it is not necessarily making one “dumber.” What it is doing, however, is bringing to light some bad habits that are affecting the way we process information. The Internet is making us lazy and unable to memorize information.
Numerous people praise the Internet and its ability to educate young people. More and more schools are switching to online learning to help children academically. Studies have shown that educational games can help children’s visual intelligence skills (Subrahmanyam, Kaveri, et al. 128). Similarly, some research has found that computer use helps kids in their alphabet recognition, language, early mathematical knowledge and learning (Bremer 412). Contrastly, homework may contribute to academic and intellectual benefits, but the gains are relatively small compared to the negative effects of the Internet on mental health (Shields, Margie, and Behrman 10). Other research has shown that computers alone are not a sufficient replacement of actual teachers and classrooms. Several studies show the Internet to be a hindrance when it comes to academic achievement and cognitive development. Even computer learning software has been know to smite creativity (Bremer
Thesis Statement: Research suggests that the internet does make children smarter because it allows children to have higher self confidence, build fine motor and cognitive skills, increase visual memory, and use trial and error to problem solve on their own.
Internet access in schools has experienced an extreme increase within the last decade. By the fall of the year 2000, 98% of the public schools throughout the United States reported to be connected to the Internet (NCES, 2000). This is a reported 63% increase since the year 1994. Also in 2000, the ratio of computers to students was one to six, an increase from the 1994 ratio of one computer for every eleven students (Mendels, 1999). Aside from having Internet access in school libraries and computer labs, the abundance in individual classrooms has dramatically increased. This allows for Internet learning to be more readily available to students on a daily basis. Statistically over 70% of schools have this access in at least one of their classrooms (Mendels, 1999).
Children of all ages everywhere these days seem to only depend on the internet. The internet is an amazing creation, but people take advantage of it. Since there is internet there is access to all kinds of social media, games, and all sorts of other things. However, because of today’s society internet is one of the only things kids use and go on, whether it’s go on Facebook for hours or watch ridiculous videos on YouTube, the internet is taking a negative turn towards children, their brains, smartness, and attitude. Despite helpful or early learning programs, the internet does not make children smarter.
Andy Carvin states “ internet access in schools isn’t worth a hill of beans if teachers aren’t prepared to take full advantage of technology” (2000). Schools spend a lot of money on computer hardware and software as well as other technologies without realizing that many of their employees are unprepared to include them in their teaching and use them to their advantages. Educators often use technology as a classroom management tool rather than an educational one, allowing computer time as a reward for good behavior (Clark & Gorski, 2001). The problem with this is that students learn to use the computer for games and such because it is their reward instead of using it on their own time for educational purposes. This is teaching them the wrong idea. Margaret Honey, director of the Center for Children and Technology in NYC said it best, “The bottom line is, you don’t just put technology into schools or into homes and expect miracles to happen. The technology is only as good as the program that surrounds it” (Meyer, 2002, p.2).
The question people are asking themselves today is, Is digital literacy just as important as daily subjects such as reading, writing, and math for our students today? To prepare for this paper I was given three excerpts to read. Right away I was drawn to how much time we spend on the internet daily and what types of things we do while we are on the internet. I realized that today’s society is dependent on the internet for most things like doing homework, researching information, shopping, and getting on social media websites. While reading a fact sheet named Fact Sheet: Digital Literacy, “We live in an internet economy I came across interesting facts such as 96% of Americans use technology and internet at their jobs and 28% of American don’t
...eenagers have to spend for studying. According to National Center for Education Statistics (2002) 99% of public schools in the United States had access to the Internet and 64% of children ages 5 to 17 had Internet access at home. These data show that we can have a very educational society in future if our children learn the proper use of internet.