Does Owning More Technology Equal Greater Knowledge
I don't believe that having access to more technology guarantees greater knowledge.
There's an enormous amount of fragmented information, opinions, misleading information, ill-informed fantasies, and hyperreality on the internet.
On the other hand, access to good information does equal power. You just have to know how, where, and when to find it.
Any thoughts?
Information in the web could be misleading because some students tend to believe that what is printed information is always true and correct. Convenience at their fingertips lead to lack of understanding on the part of the students to develop sequential processing of thoughts and ideas. It is disappointing to read student work that reflects "cut and paste" statements from the internet. It is always true to say that any excess of anything is not useful at all.
I teach my students that YES technology is great...but they must have a "back up plan." They must be able to think on their own 2 feet & think fast & critically. I tell them that ability to "do" the work makes a difference...
agreed, also with information at "your finger tips" doesn't it make a person almost lazy? Why learn something, when they can just look it up?
Linda,
and this can be a great lesson that we can help our students to learn so they are better consumers of the vast information that is out there.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I think that to some degree, the information and opinions have always been "out there" but with the hyper level of connectedness we now have, it is spread to the masses more quickly and immediately. Before, the news and information may have taken longer to spread, thus providing time for corrections to be made. Now everything is instantaneous and on a 24/7 access. And with the advent of so many outlits for posting opinions, they are often taken out of context and treated as "the truth". A slower pace and more investigation of the information is warrented by all.
Darlene,
yes, we have a great opportunity to help our students become wise consumers of the information that is out there.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I agree with you. Being in healthcare there is alot of misleading information regarding healthcare that people are using. This is very frustrating when the home medicate. There is very good information but you have to go to the right place to get it.
Robert,
excellent point & I completely agree. While the old public library may not be as "fast" or "easy" for accessing information, I can still utilize this tool to gain valuable information & knowledge. And just because it is on the web, doesn't mean it's worthy of my time.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
