Should the Internet Replace the Book As the Chief Tool of Learning?

Birkerts provides three effects that will occur as a result of moving away from the printed word to the electronic media. The first effect is the language erosion. He explains the reader that transition from books will lead to the “complexity and distinctiveness of verbal and written communication, which are deeply bound to transaction of print literacy, will gradually be replaced by a more telegraphic sort of plainspeak” (9). In the future our language will start to become more simple and dumb. Whereas, by reading books and printed materials people are able to dig more depth and understand and imagine the contents. But, soon this will start to disappear as people will no longer be able to understand the complex language of the literature and intelligence level of people will start to decrease. The second effect of electronic media is the flattening of historical perspectives. This means that due to the electronic media the history will start to recede because the “printed page itself is a link” and when this link is broken the past will gradually diminish (10). Birkerts explains the audience that the past is best represented in the books and libraries. Therefore, moving away from the printed word means moving away from the past and its history. The last effect is the waning of the private self. Birkerts worries that in the future people will forget how to live because of the electronic

Carr said “What if I do all my readings on the web not so much because the way I read has changed. i.e. I’m just seeking convenience, but because the way I THINK has changed?” (Carr, pg 7). Since the internet has come into play people have stooped reading books because is easier to just google what they are wanting to know. The internet can change the way someone can process the information on a screen than in a book and how much is actually being consumed by the person. Not only is it changing the way we understand but every technology is an expression of the human will. This allows us to reshape nature to better serve our needs and desires. The internet has the greatest power over how and what we think

After reading the article “Literacy Debate: Online, R U really reading?” by Motoko Rich, I believe that the internet is very beneficial in many ways but I also believe reading books is important at certain times. As being a teenager the internet has become a far better source when it comes to research. The internet is very quick on answers unlike books where you have to flip through pages for an answer to a simple question. Now why would someone choose to do more when they can do less with a simple click of a button? The internet is very useful; without the internet we wouldn’t have been able to have the opportunity to have this discussion here. On the contrary, the internet might be much faster with information but it is not always reliable.

According to the United Nations Agency, approximately 3.2 billion people have used the Internet since 2015, which has made a drastic increase since 2000 with there only being 738 million internet users then. That is almost 43% of the world's population that uses the internet. A controversial topic that is commonly being brought up in today's arguments is the use of the internet and how people believe it is becoming such a detriment to our society, because nobody in this generation acknowledges the value of books, or even prefers to use an actual copy such as a paperback. The internet, such as Google, is being classified as lazy or ignorant, but reading a book is labeled as literate or being knowledgeable. Thesis:“Teaching in the #Age Literacy” by Jennifer L. Nelson and “Is Google Making Us stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, both analyze the pros and cons to having the internet and information at our fingertips, how it is affecting the way we read and analyze text and different scientific experiments that have been put to use to decode why we think the way we do now and how to improve our intelligence.

Carr article emphasizes on how the internet has completely changed our way of thinking, from the negative viewpoint. The internet today has become our primary source for almost everything, reading, looking up information, etc. It has been common today to dismiss the idea that when we read online, we are disengaging with the text and therefore we are not able to interpret or make connections. His argument discuss the idea that even though the in internet offers us efficiency, in the process we are diminishing our learning experience. Although I agree with Carr that the widespread use the internet has a huge impact on the way individuals search and process information, I cannot agree that all of these changes are negative.

I believe that the Internet is changing how we as a society think and comprehend information because I have experienced this in my personal life. “My mind isn’t going--so far as I can tell-- but it’s changing” (Carr par. 2). Carr recognizes that his mind is changing and I recognize that as well because of such heavy Internet and technology use. When I was younger, I used to be a fairly avid reader. Then I was introduced to the Internet and became more dependent on it for schoolwork, projects and really just for everyday life. My affinity for reading is pretty much gone do to my dependence on the Internet. A lot of my friends experienced this too. “When I mention my troubles with reading to friends, many say they’re suffering from similar afflictions” (Carr par. 6). A great majority of my friends would agree with this quote as much as I do. My friend circle have given up reading because of their major dependence on the Internet. It also does not help that my generation was born into this world of overwhelming technology. We have grown up with the world at our fingertips, and reading books has become a secondary way to obtain information. It is even an annoyance to read sometimes because books are cumbersome and heavy. While the Internet is handy for many things, it appears to be altering our minds even if we are oblivious to it. It changes how information is presented and processed by our brains. The Internet is a great tool for finding information, but its distractions and sheer overwhelming volume of websites creates shortened attention spans and lack of

Marc Presnky argues that college should ban the use of physical books to encourage the use of electronic books. He gives three reasons to support his argument. The author of the article “College Should Mandate That All Textbooks Be Digitized” states three main advantages of having a bookless higher education. He believes that society should move beyond “physical books of the past” in order to move “education into the future” (Presnky). By employing the use of digitized books, Presnky believes that people will have features not quickly available to physical books such as comments or analysis about a book. Lastly, Presnky believes the biggest advantage of fully transitioning to e-books is the liberation of ideas from printed pages. He thinks

This explosion of technology has opened many doors to the way we think and process information. Instead of the mundane linear cognitive thought processes involved in reading a book, the Net offers instant access to social media, games, shopping, and many other exciting and stimulating programs. This not only changes the entire spectrum of knowledge, but it also changes the way we look at the world. That is something the book has done, but not to this extreme.

What did mankind do before the internet? Educational technologies are changing the lives of current and future generations. For years, technology has been flooding into the classrooms of youngsters. On an average, a student uses up to three devices daily. Teenagers count on a cell phone to do things, from waking them up in the morning to giving them any information needed during the day. The incredible World Wide Web saves many hours of research for a paper compared to three decades ago when days were spent looking up research that is now available almost instantly. The floppy discs of a few decades back cannot compare to digital textbooks on mobile devices, e readers, laptops, or tablets of the day. Technology plays a huge role in today’s world impacting education on major levels in regards to accessibility, communication, and opportunity. Education will continue to be part of people’s lives, regardless of age or lifestyle.

Every day the world is changing and things are done differently. Technology has also affected the way students are taught and in which they learn. It has changed the classroom. Technology saves us time and allows us to access material in only minutes. “The Internet and online subscription databases, even as a supplement to the printed works in the library, allow students to see, and force them to consider or reject, points of view that they might never have encountered in decades past” (Gow 4).With all the time technology produces, it also has downsides and it also may have created a less intelligent society.

When it comes to the topic of technology, most people will readily agree that it has been growing non-stop at a significant pace. About 16 years ago, technologies, such as computers were not a necessity in mainstream life. Since then, technology has progressed and people have become extremely reliable on. In the essay “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” by Amy Goldwasser, she talks about the positive aspects of the Internet. According to Goldwasser, “Twenty-plus years ago, high school students didn’t have the Internet to store their trivia”(Goldwasser 238). By stating this, Goldwasser explains that over the years the Internet has become a necessity in the lives of the majority of students today. Although the Internet provides sufficient

Life is more simple with these wonderful devices, but we are becoming too lazy to pick up a book and learn things on our own. I feel like I and many of my classmates barley open a book for class, instead we use the internet for everything. This is becoming a serious issue. I feel that we are not expanding our minds like we used to back when technology was not as advanced. I remember back in middle school were the internet was available, but I did not let it take up time in my day. I found myself being more productive with my life back then. Now, I probably spent a fourth of my day using the internet, which is not necessary at all.

Now days with the rise of digital technology many physical items such as pen and paper are slowly being replaced by computers and smart phones. But is this really a good thing? I read books and of course so do many other people in this class and around the globe. But since the creation of ‘e-readers’ more and more people have been converting to the technology based side of reading. Although technology is slowly becoming more predominant in this era we should not rely on it to always entertain and keep us occupied.

The instant access to information, offers millions of unknown documents with all sorts of information, therefore, making the student much more intelligent using this tool called the internet. For instance, a student in modern time, most of the time, doesn't need to face the common struggle of flipping pages through an old and reused textbook, for all he or she must do is type a question on any browser that is in favor such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo, and receive countless of files that provide information on the subject being asked for. The Internet is portrayed as a library in modern time, so it provides students with access to nearly any piece of information imaginable. This is an advantage in the classroom as it can enhance and differentiate the information on any educational subject. Although a downside is that sometimes students can come across biased or misleading information online, it is still beneficial in the way of obtaining information on the subject or topic being used. The mobile phone, is replacing old methods like acquiring books from the libraries because in modern day students can use library applications on their mobile phones to access books in the form of electronic books, so they can have some sort of reach for these books at any time which saves time and assists them to read at any time, anywhere. Unlike in the past when learning was limited to a classroom, students and teachers could only

During the development of technology, most people have shifted to use electronic books to read both academic and non-academic texts. However, despite the technological changes, there has been a wide debate about the benefits of paper books over the e-books. It is important to understand that various reasons are suggesting why people should shift back to using the traditional books rather than the electronic ones. Even though some think that e-books are better that traditional ones, I believe that readers should return to traditional books because of various reasons.