Computers and Technology
One of the most pivotal technological moments that I can remember from my academic career is the first research project that I had to do early in high school when the internet was considered a valid resource. My school had just established an internet connection, and instead of going to the card catalog in the library, there was a rush for the computers. Encyclopedias and periodical guides had been usurped by this relatively new network of information, and it has changed the way that students do research. Why settle for a couple of magazine articles and a book in a library with limited resources when the World Wide Web offers an almost limitless supply of information on almost every topic known to man? Human beings have been able to perform extensive research on a subject ever since the printed word came into the daily life of scholars, but the advent of the cyberculture era has given us a completely new tool that has both its advantages and disadvantages in the pursuit of knowledge. The one thing that can be said for sure though is that research, whether sparked by casual curiosity or a deadline for a thesis, will never be the same.
Until the last decade or so, the bastion of knowledge and information was that building full of books that was known as the library. Print, in the form of books, magazines, newspapers, journals, encyclopedias, atlases, etc., was the primary source for information on virtually any subject. Even dialogue about information was exchanged with printed words on paper or handwritten letters. Then, something strange happened, and all of a sudden, you cannot find a library in a school anymore, there is only the media center. The media center is still a place to gather information, but now computers seem to overshadow the bookshelves. A small school with only a few hundred books is very limited in what topics it can cover, but place one computer in there with an internet connection and it opens a flood of information on everything from socialist realism to belly button lint. As Steven Johnson points out in his article “Links,” the very nature of the web, with its links that carry the user from one source of information to the other, provides something that seekers of information have never seen before.
Kent, Susan Kingsley. The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919: A Brief History with Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. Print.
Railroads first appeared around the 1830’s, and helped the ideas of Manifest Destiny and Westward expansion; however, these were weak and didn’t connect as far as people needed, thus causing them to be forced to take more dangerous routes. On January 17th, 1848, a proposal was sent to Congress by Asa Whitney to approve and provide federal funding...
The “Grapes of Wrath” is an American allegory of human suffering that takes place in a dark period of the history of our nation, brought on by the Dust Bowl migration from Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas, during the 1930s and the depression. People experience this tragedy in different ways. The landowner who had to remove the families was torn in turmoil; Steinbeck writes, “ Some of the owner men were kind because they hated what they had to do and some of them were angry because they hated to be cruel, and some of them were cold because they had long ago found that one could not be an owner unless one were cold.” Others found ways to be apathe...
After America acquired the West, the need for efficient transportation heightened. Ideas circulated about a railroad that would spread across the continent from East to West. Republican congresses ruled for the federal funding of railroad construction, however, all actions were halted for a few years on account of a war. Following the American Civil War of 1861-1865, the race to build transcontinental railroad began in 1866. Lincoln approved Pacific Railway Act of 1862, granting two railroad companies the right to build the first American transcontinental railroad, (Clark 432).
“May God continue the unity of our country as this railroad unites the two great oceans of the world” (Mayer 213). This famous quotation was engraved on the gold spike that connected the two fragments of the first transcontinental railroad. It describes the significance of the railway to the rapidly growing United States. The transcontinental railroad was of tremendous importance to the development of the Union because it opened the western frontier to increased settlement and represented the growing integration of the country. It stimulated trade between east and west, and transformed the dormant frontier into an essential component of the Union.
Influenza Encyclopedia. (n.d.). The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918: A Digital Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 27, 2013, from http://www.influenzaarchive.org/
In this article Nicholas Carr brings up some very valid points and stories. Using the internet for gathering information, reading, and communicating has changed how we think about and process information. The internet has become so fast, efficient, and accessible that people prefer it to traditional means of obtaining information. Carr states that he used to find reading a lengthy book or article easy, but since immersing himself into internet his mind wanders and he cannot seem to concentrate on the text before him. This does seem like a problem, especially if one still values a traditional printed work. Someone who grew up in the age before the internet or at least more recent internet applications, and are sentimental about what they grew up with and how they used to think would find some issue with the world’s current dependency on the internet.
Moreover, Carr’s article mentions that by using technology of any kind, users tend to embody the characteristics stimulated by that technology. He says that given that the Internet processes information almost immediately, users will tend to value immediacy. To explain, Carr gives the example of a friend of his named Scott Karp who was a literary major on college and who used to be an avid book reader. However, since the arrival of the Internet, Karp skim articles online because he could no longer read as much as he used too. He cannot pay attention and absorb long texts ever since he read online articles. Internet...
Technology, namely the internet, has become an important and present part of our lives, both socially and academically.
The World Wide Web also led to the inventions of websites such as YouTube, Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Wikipedia. These websites allow close to effortless communication from all over the world. With such an easy access to information, students began to rely less on instructors, textbooks, or classmates and more than ever on the
In recent years, the Internet has become the number one choice for doing research. A person can find information on just about anything. There are websites devoted to cooking recipes, musicians, schools, and pornography. Many schools will even allow students to apply for admission over the Internet. Schools such as California State University, Northridge give students an option to register for classes through the school website, making it quick and easy to get classes. The Internet is truly the "information superhighway."
In this growing economy, there are many jobs that need to be fulfilled. Careers in Information Technology are some examples. In order to have a career in Information Technology, you must have a good education. One form of education for future careers in Information Technology is the Information Technology class offered at two high schools in Collier County: Lely High School and Immokalee High School. When completing this course, the student will receive a Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Bundle Certification (3 of 5). This certification can help with career other than ones in Information Technology.
Before the creation of the internet, humans had no easy way of accessing any type of information. Individuals resorted to physical, written documents like encyclopedias, journals, newspapers, and magazines for the learning of new material; these were some of the only ways of evidencing claims and proving facts. After the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989, humans are now being constantly bombarded with deceivingly numerous amounts of information and media content. Since most of the 21st century generation was born with the aforementioned convenient means of discovering and learning new things, most people often bypass the influence they can have on their lives. The internet serves as a mode of mass communication,...
The Center for the Digital Future’s 2005 report found that 'among users 17 and older, 56.3 percent consider the Internet to be a very important or extremely important source of information for them' (p. 4). Online resource capabilities save an individual time as well as provide ease of access and availability to a broad scope of materials. Print books and journals, though they provide in–depth information on a particular subject, are not easily accessible and available at any particular moment. In order to access many books, an individual must either visit the local library or contain the book in his or her own private collection, which could be costly. Online resources can be accessed anytime at anyplace. “Overall, there is expanded access to information in a variety of formats from worldwide institutions, businesses, and universities" (Darrow & MacDonald, 2004, p. 22). Access to “worldwide” information puts a broad range of information in the h...
The Internet has made it easy for researchers to obtain information. No longer do you have to travel to get rare documents they are now just a few clicks away.