The Internet and Schools: Does the Internet Help or Hurt Students?

There’s no denying that technology has grown to play a major role in education and learning. Students are using laptops, tablets, and smartphones to research, complete, and even collaborate on assignments, both in and outside of the classroom. Timothy D. Snyder and Thomas L. Friedman both have written articles expressing their opposing opinions on technology in the classroom. Timothy Snyder is a Professor of History at Yale University who has written five different award-winning books. In his article, “Why Laptops Are Distracting America’s Future Workforce”, Snyder explains to students and teachers why he is against technology in the classroom. Thomas Friedman is a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, author of six award-winning

Imagine having to turn off all electronics and not being able to use it for a week. Technologies, such as the Internet, have provoked questions about the effects it has to students overtime. Although Internet users have become dependent to the internet, schools should not participate in national “Shut Down Your Screen Week” because the Internet is an exceptional source of information, the Internet is used for instant communication, and Internet users have shown increased signs of social interactions.

Technology has been around for decades and has been improving and developing ever since. Currently, the school board is debating whether or not the students and the staff should participate in “Shut Down Your Screen Week.” This is a national movement where nobody may use any electronic media for an entire week. In our generation now, modern technology is simplifying our lives to make it easier and better. This is the reason why it is almost everywhere. It is in homes, in our work, and in our schools. Although some individuals might argue that too much technology is bad for us, we should not participate in “Shut Down Your Screen Week,” because technology is able to help children become more interested in learning, can improve student’s skills, and it can also make work for teachers easier.

But in these days people are spending time in talking on the phone, chatting with their friends, or playing video games. Technology consumes more time than we think; once we get in to it, it going to take at least an hour to get rid of it. Many researchers indicate that American children spend an average of eight hours a day with media, including television, computer, and video games (Source 1). Opponents will say that student can score higher percentile when using computer-based instruction than student who received no computer (Source 2). It is true that student will score higher if they use computer, but the time that they spend with computer still matter. I don’t mean that computer-based instruction is bad but the time they spend on it is the problem. Students should not be allow to use computer more than 2-3

As stated by the author Sue Ferguson in the article “How Computers Make Our Kids Stupid,” computers and the internet distract students from real learning, which is evident by the poor academic achievement associated with excessive and improper use of computers and internet (Ferguson 2). This view is supported by a massive study conducted by University of Munich economists Thomas Fuchs and Ludger Woessmann in November, 2004, with a subject pool of 174,000 15 year-olds in reading, 97,000 each in math and

Technology connects people from all corners of the world. Inventions like the web and the internet has been heralded as the greatest inventions of man. The twenty first century is a fast paced world, with information available at a person’s fingertips. With this new drastic change in society, advocates of education reformation, like Cathy Davidson, pushes for education to be more modernized. In her essay “Project Classroom Makeover”, she points out the outdated education system, and the benefits, technology can have on the failing American education system.

David Gelernter claims that “the root” of the problem (of school performance) is a child’s ability to think (Doc E). He argues that computers only give access to more information, not only overwhelming the student, but absolutely useless in teaching them real skills. In this arguments sophisticated technology is essentially equated to a shiny, useless tool in receiving an education. This point is again brought up in Doc F, where a child is pictured oozing at the exact things that at that moment passes by his window. This brings Gelernter’s arguments a step further by showing that children lose real life experiences and knowledge when they absorb it all behind a screen.

There is a constant stream of technology in every direction. Everyday life revolves around technology, which has generously influenced today’s generation in many positive and negative ways. Students have the world at their fingertips. Anything can be found with a swipe of a finger or a click of a button. They want the newest phones, tablets, laptops, and other gadgets, while parents struggle to keep their children’s attention. Students cannot go a minute without their phones, let alone a week. Therefore, many schools plan to participate in “Shut Down Your Screen Week,” which is a week where students would unplug from technology. Bayless High School should not enforce the national “Shut Down Your Screen Week” because technology allow students to interact with others easily, to gather information quicker, and to help increase brain activity for users.

A teacher is standing at the front of any classroom in any school in America. She tells the class she wants the essay typed, and that they should use addition online sources in their paper. The bell rings and the students head to their next class. They will be watching an educational video on different kinds of chemical reactions. None of this would be possible without electronics. From the computer where the students will be tying their essay to the Promethean Board where they watched the video, technology is now a crucial part in teaching all across the U.S. The different kinds of media used to educate young people has expanded greatly through the use of electronics. “Shut Down Your Screen Week” is a movement attempting to deprive students of valuable technology in the futile hope that students will be less distracted. Although many people believe “Shut Down Your Screen Week” will be advantageous to students, Indian Ridge Middle School would benefit from not participating in the event.

Conceptualize a classroom filled with many children. They all remain motionless, except for the nimble movements of their fingers, as they skim the internet, to complete an assignment. Their eyes, glued to the screen, oblivious to the world around them, and sucked into their own. This mind prison can not possibly enhance the students learning capabilities. These screens are preventing students from deep comprehension, and a well maintained behavior. Despite this misfortune, these students still have a chance, to learn and to grow. “Shut Down Your Screen Week” will hold the chance for students to walk, and revive the once barren paths that technology has desolated.

The Evolution of Technology What if all through schooling, grades first through twelfth, the use of any technology was not allowed? Not even as a learning resource or tool?

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

The internet has made education better for teachers, student and parents however the use of the “information super highway” does not have its faults. What are some solutions to problems such as cheating, plagiarism and the validity of the information online? Ethics, honesty, and fairness in online education are always concerns because of the quick internet transferring of information available to our students. There are numerous ways that educators can help minimize this problem. Some action steps that are readily available to online internet education are TURNITIN which is plagiarism detection software, remote live PROCTORING which uses web cams and humans monitoring several screens in the room where students are connecting to their assignments online, a LOCKDOWN BROWSER can be downloaded to the students computer which prevents students looking up things during an exam, and there are KEYSTROKE RECOGNITION devices that recognize the student and assures that the work is done by that student. Educators have to pay attention to the criticisms as well. Some of the criticisms to examine are the claims that the internet is unreliable, students don’t get group interaction, teaching profession put at risk, no way to measure truth in learning, students sheltered from real world, learning is impersonal, and prevents students from learning how to communicate. The first claim to examine is that the internet is unreliable. In order to find an internet website that has reliable

For the majority of people, it is difficult to imagine what life would be like without the internet. The world of education has also undergone tremendous change since the advent of the internet. It allows students to quickly obtain a vast amount of information on every subject. They also get the convenience of going to class and completing assignments, permitting them to schedule their time with great flexibility. The internet has become one of the easiest, fastest and most effective tools that can be used to explore and comprehend more about the world; however, it is not without problems. The uses of the internet by students changes their thinking patterns, distracts their attention and reduces their interpersonal skills.

The popularity of technology is growing larger and faster than ever. The problem is, we may never be able to catch up to it. The young adolescent adults seemed to be more interested in technology. Some experts claim that it does more harm than value. In terms of education, technology is becoming more and more popular and used among many school districts, although this can come with complications and allows students to ease threw assignments without having to fix their own problems. Also, technology can affect teenagers social abilities and let strangers have access to personal information.