Weblogs: Learning In Public By Jill Rettberg

Youth’s reliance on the digital world may do some harm, but its benefits outweigh any drawbacks. Information is now readily available and much easier to access. Writers like Nicholas Carr of the Atlantic magazine speaks of the Web as a “godsend,” capable of reducing research from long days of gathering and shifting through physical resources to mere minutes searching online (Source 4). Technology not only make learning easier but also more personal. According to a 2008 study on the effects of digital media, the large library of information provided online “lowers barriers to self-directed learning” (Source 3). The current generation with some simple Google searches has the ability to indulge in their curiosity, free from traditional limitation in learning. Because of this, the young are developing new interests and skills to go along with

According to By Rainie and Hitlin (2005), “there is agreement among teens and their parents about the role that the internet plays in teens’ education. Eighty-six percent of teens, and 88% of online teens, believe that the internet helps teenagers to do better in school. Eighty percent of parents and 83% of parents of online teens agreed with that proposition”. Wright (n.d) shares that “the Internet contains a wealth of knowledge that is available instantly upon any search. Because of this, the Internet has superseded libraries as a source for information gathering and research. Many teachers will now ask students to visit specific websites to study from home, and online encyclopedias provide masses of knowledge on almost every topic imaginable. The variety of sources allows students to pursue subjects in much greater detail rather than being limited to whatever the teacher sends home”.

Advances in the internet have changed the way America works,learns,and communicates. The internet has become an integral part of our social life. This has assisted us by communicating and research purposes.

Growing up as a child I've always used the internet as a source to chat with my friends and family online, to do my homework, and play games. I’ve been on the internet since I was 10 years old. It’s a reliable source I always go to answer my questions. Our society now relies on the internet to answer all of our questions on a daily basis. In Nicholas Carr article his beliefs are that the internet has changed our society in many ways and it has created a negative effect to our way of thinking. However, the internet has provided a positive interaction to college students knowledge, such as YouTube videos offering tips on how to fix things, learn different languages, and how to solve classroom related problems.

In this article, “Why Even the Worst Bloggers Are Making Us Smarter” by Clive Thompson, talks about how much words we write together as a world per day. The amount of words we use now and back in the days without internet is fascinating. Before the internet, most people only wrote during school days and after that no one took writing seriously. “Altogether, we compose some 3.6 trillion words every day on email and social media — the equivalent of 36 million books.” Internet is something we all use in this world. Most of us use it for communication purpose and others to share their stories and educate others. Digital communications has helped us to become better writers because parents were focusing if their kids were reading every day more

The chapter discusses how everything that gets posted on the internet becomes public, regardless of if the original poster intended for it to go viral or not (Patchin & Hinduja, 2013). Once information is posted online, the original poster loses control over who has access to that information; therefore, the chapter reminds teens that it is vital that they think twice before they post. If it is not something that they would be comfortable with the whole world seeing, then it needs to stay offline. In addition to online information being public, the authors point out that the information also becomes eternal, as it leaves behind a digital footprint that can not be washed away (Patchin & Hinduja, 2013). Just as sound waves go on forever, and you cannot take words back from existence once you speak them, you cannot take back the words that you post online, so teens need to choose their digital words

Technology has allowed young Americans to transform the way they think and learn. According to a 2008 study by Mizuko Ito, the internet has allowed the flourishing of self-directed learning. The enormous possibilities the internet offers, allows people to delve into topics or research a variety of areas that interest them. People can now explore their curiosity endlessly. Researches have also noticed a change in literacy among the younger generation. The daily texts, tweets, and emails people send, keep them writing. According to Andrea Lunsford, all of these little writings add up and is pushing

In The Atlantic article “Why I Blog,” Andrew Sullivan explores a relatively new and compelling medium of communication, blogging. He discusses how blogging has changed writing from a future oriented process of writing to a rather provisional sense of writing. Consequently, this makes the process of editing, revising, polishing and ultimately publishing almost non-existent in the realm of blogging. Sullivan goes on to note how the usage of blogs has created a bond between the reader and the author, and the pace at which that bond travels is seamless. Sullivan writes, “And the intimate bond this creates with readers is unlike the bond that the Times, say, develops with its readers through the same events.” Quite notably in this quote, Sullivan explains that the formal writing often associated with well known traditional newspapers, such as The New York Times, seems to lack a human quality; Whereas, blogging generates that constant flux of thoughts and paves a path of reassessment, through feedback from readers. “To blog is therefore to let go of your writing in a way, to hold it at arm’s length, open it to scrutiny, allow it to float in the ether for a while, and to let

Bill Keller in “The twitter trap” published in The New york Times (18 May 2011) notes that he felt as though he had poisoned his daughter by allowing her onto Facebook. He equates it to giving a drug and sees it as eroding a youth’s intellect or skills development memory skills, math skills, penmanship, innate sense of direction, attention span, problem solving and decision making abilities. Given his daily job, he is well aware of the global appreciation for the internet. However, what are the costs, the personal costs? Recently, the advancement of technology has started to accumulate some controversy.

There is nothing more potent than an idea. Presently, broadcasting an idea has never been easier and a large audience never so reachable. The Internet represents the most efficient means of mass communication – a place where information is readily available and millions can be reached with the click of a button. The incalculable enormity and accessibility of the Internet means that we are constantly bombarded with messages and ideas that are often misleading and incomplete.

Kids in Today’s Society In the article “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” Amy Goldwasser believes that the internet is a positive tool in the youth’s lives today. Unlike the older generation that thinks that the internet is just taking time away from them and making them very distracted from their work and school. As an 88-year-old in the article states,” Kids today- were telling you! - don’t read, don’t write, and don’t care about anything farther in front of them than their iPods.”

When writing”Internet’s Positive & Negative Effects on People” the author focused on situations that most people do not think about when they are online. The author tried to make the reader more aware as to what really happens online and how it can affect people in both a positive or negative way. This allows people to understand what is truly happening online. When writing “Monitoring Children’s Online Activity” the author wrote about many situations that occur online (cyberbullying, Catfishing, talking to strangers, and inappropriate content) the author focuses on these situations because they can potentially affect children who have not yet hit maturity and put them in harm’s way. When writing about these topics she identified what each

The author means that the internet these day are children are always on it, posting all their situations on Facebook, Instagram, Tweeter, and so on. The authors message, “Never has a communications system played so many roles in our lives – or exerted such board influence over our thoughts- as the internet does today. Yes, for all that’s been written about the net, there’s been little consideration of how exactly, its reprogramming us.”

In Else’s interview, "Living On-Line: I'll Have to Ask My Friends", Professor Sherry Turkle expresses her concern for adolescents and how our dependent nature for technology and online interaction is influencing our formation of identity.

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