The Internet has not only changed the world
but it has also changed the way I learn, this is mostly due to accessibility of
all sorts of information at my fingertips. The Internet has given me the chance
to find any definition, any article, or any kind of news that will help shape
the way I learn. This has just not been beneficial to me but also to our
generation, the Internet has been there for any information you wished to
possess. I personally think that the Internet has been able to broaden my
horizons and also has helped me learn more due to the amount of information I
am able to find in a matter of seconds. I no longer have to search through an
encyclopedia and thesaurus to find information I need to use for a paper. Even
now in University, I have the access to an online library, where I can type in key words to a search box and then have all
the information needed at the second. The Internet has changed the way that
students today learn and the way we learn is most likely subject to change again
with the rapid rate of growth we continue to see.
The first time I ever used the Internet
to further my knowledge was during middle school. It was for my 7th
grade English class, we did a research paper in which we went down to the
school library to use the computers to find information on the topics that we
chose. I remember using a search engine for the first time and it felt foreign
to me, at the time I didn’t know what was in-store for the future. The Internet
was this huge database that is readily available and when being first
introduced to it was something new and exciting. My first home computer was the
great Macintosh g3,
my mom at the time was a graphic designer so
we had a computer since the early days. The Macintosh stayed in the family for
years until we got a dell desktop, then after that short life we invested in
one of the recent iMac’s, which is my favorite computer to date but is also the
one I spent days stuck to while writing papers for high school.
The Internet is also changing the
way that we think when we don’t deal with computers. In the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” by
Nicholas Carr, Carr states “Over the past few years I’ve had an
uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my
brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t
going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used
to think.” This is the change that most people who use the Internet regularly
are beginning to notice. Since I am so used to having the information through a
simple Google search, my thought process has completely changed. I’m not saying
that it has changed for worse; instead I believe that we need to adapt this new
source of technology since it has a greater database readily available and is
becoming more popular. Since I started using the internet for a source of
learning, I have began to lose patience while researching in other methods such
as searching through textbooks to find answers or looking up definitions that I
have trouble understanding while reading a book. The Internet is an easier tool
to use to find those answers and definitions in the fraction of the time.
Before the invention of the Internet
or even the computer, according to the article “As We May Think” by Vannevar
Bush information was received by “writing and
photography, followed by printing; but we also record on film, on wax disks,
and on magnetic wires”. The difference now is that all the information, which
includes watching videos, looking at photography, and reading mass amounts of
text is all available on one computer. The Internet has different mediums in
which you can learn information. For example you can stream videos, listen to
podcasts, and be interactive with others through discussion boards and
comments.
The Internet has changed the way
students today find and process information. We no longer go to the local
library to research encyclopedias and old textbooks. We have laptop computers
and even cellular phones that can find the same information in a fraction of
the time. I think it is safe to say that the Internet is changing the way we
learn. Some might think it is a negative thing that we resort to web based text
for information, but I think it gives the learner so many more opportunities to
learn about a specific topic.
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