Please read Becoming Net Savvy and comment below. This is due Wednesday.
Wake Forest University
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13 Responses to “Discussion #5: Net Savvy”
After reading this article it is very clear to me that keeping up with the internet was a continuous thing. I feel like I got left behind coming up because we did not have a computer int he house until I was in the 11th grade and by that time I was so used to writing things and going to the library that I did not want to use the computer. A lot of people have to realize, especially our generation and younger, that not all people know how to use the internet and all the computer programs and searches that would save a whole lot of time out of our day! In order to function in the world by the time 2010 comes around (which is in 2 years!) people are going to have to keep up on their knowledge of technology. In order to work in the world you have to know how to use the technologies that businesses are using so you have to brush up on the newest things every time they come out. It seems like a very tedious, and continuous task, but unfortunately it is necessary.
I found this article to be fascinating because it has never really occurred to me that I am behind on technology until I took this class and read this to confirm it. I have always felt that as long as I was adept at Word, Excel, Google, and maybe even Photoshop I was doing great! But I am slowly realizing that the world of the web is beginning to advance far past where I stand! This article is also a perfect example of why this library science course is crucial in universities. I have learned things about resources I was not aware of, new additions to the web, and easier more efficient ways of performing research on anything. I know that I am not alone in my generation and that everyone should take a course to stay updated with what is happening in the modern world of technology. I have always thought of my parents as being behind but now I include myself in that bracket more and more.
This article was fairly eye-opening. I always considered myself pretty “up-to-date” with the internet and such. But the course and the article have exposed me to areas that I’m not too familiar with, like Flickr for example. These newer ideas certainly have a lot of value and I would do well to keep up with them. Basically it just shows you that there is more to the internet than Google.
Before this class, I did not really think about technology much except for the basic computer functions that I use daily. Now, I understand that the emerging role of the internet and that there really is a lot more information on it that I thought.
I thought it was interesting how the article relates being a responsible citizen and being net savvy. The article discusses how we need to know “why” and ask questions about all the information we see. In this, the author is suggesting that we should not take commonplace facts and accepts them. He suggests that we should always remember to draw our own conclusions about the material presented. I was surprised that the author was able to put these two ideas together and discuss our almost civic duty to become well-educated about the increasing capabilities of the internet.
That being said, I think that this article and the class have overall made me realize the importance of staying on top of technology.
While I agree with much of what the article is trying to say, I feel it is far too ready to stereotype society and provide labels. The economies of the past never fit perfectly into a “know what” and “know how” model, and neither do today’s students.
Yet the article makes a solid point regarding the lifetime commitment it takes to become “net savvy.” Too often, perhaps because I’m used to the internet and technology making things readily available, I feel as though there must be a short, simple one-step process of learning things. Yet with the net, this can never be the case. Everything is rapidly changing, and we need to know why we use something almost as much as know how.
I was also taken aback by the way in which we can create new identities on the internet. Certainly the anonymity it can provide often allows people to reveal things they wouldn’t otherwise do in a public forum, but it was nice to see the article make a point of recognizing this. At other times, the article was strong in that it challenged us to ask why an article or a source was authoritative and then to independently evaluate them on their merit. This just serves to remind us all that although the internet can seem authoritative, at times it can misguide us.
This article echoes some of the same themes that we saw earlier in the semester on the YouTube video about the rapid growth of technology and information. I agree that the key to handling this information overload, so to speak, is for people to learn how to interpret large amounts of information critically in order to determine its accuracy. This applies to all media such as the Internet, television, printed materials, and radio. I think that the integrity of information in the academic world will not be affected by these marked increases in technological and written information as long as students, teachers, and readers develop the skills to critically evaluate the quality and accuracy of such information. I agree with the article that becoming “net savvy” in order to do this must occur outside of the classroom as well as in it. Parents and teachers must learn to adapt to changing sources of information and new information itself to be able to teach their children and students how to be good students and citizens in the 21st century. The key to doing this is learning at a young age to apply criticism and critical thinking to all new information. The scientific method would be great in doing this. As we move further into the technological advances of the 21st century, we must learn to broaden the scope of the cliche that “You can’t trust everything you read in the papers.”
This article addressed a lot of the feelings and thoughts that I’ve been having in this class throughout the semester. I had always assumed I was net savvy and up on recent technology. I soon learned that was not the case. Reading this article really cemented these ideas, that being net savvy really is a lifetime commitment. To truly understand the way to use the internet the best way for each purpose, it is essential to always be aware of advancements and the new technology. Not only to use the internet successfully, but it is important to be net savvy in order to compete in the workforce, and to understand the technology around you. At the same time, it is important to be aware of the dangers of the internet. Information is not verified, and things are not easily erasable. These are both issues that affect college students daily.
The issues which this article brought up are not only very true but very important. The truth is that most college do in-fact start their research from the internet; even use the internet as their primary research tool throughout a paper or project. Its not a big surprise, as student, because using the internet is a much more simple process and returns quicker and newer information. I think the academic community rather than enforce pre-internet academic citing needs to evolve with technology. While I believe most academic institutions have done so, scholars need to be able to control information being posted on the internet with regards to scholarly material. In a time when anyone can post on the internet, importance needs to be placed on maintaining academic integrity just as it was prior to use of the internet in research.
I thought the article was very interesting and just further reinforced the purpose of this course. I now realize how important the internet and all the information available on it is to my life and how important it always will be. It is essential to staying connected with the world and everything going on. With such a high emphasis on the internet it is pivotal that we understand how to use the infinite amount of information available on the internet and learn the best ways to navigate the web with its exploding amount of resources.
Reading the article made me thing of just how much the internet has become a part of our lives and the impact it can have on them. What you do on the internet will always be there for anyone to find. The funny drunken picture will always be out there waiting for a future employer to find. It is important that people learn how to use the internet in a way that will help them to increase their knowledge and help them grow individually.
I really liked the intro about learning to do and learning to be as well as learning to know. Just in my own experience, I’ve found learning to know to be not the most important factor because, outside of exams, I hardly ever have to provide an answer for something for which I don’t have the ability to look up the information. While I’m not discounting the value of general knowledge, I have found the knowing how to use the resources available to be tantamount to knowing what. Additionally, the part of the article discussing becoming net savvy to collaborate with colleagues was challenging. I feel like thus far I have not used many of the available Internet tools to network with potential employers and coworkers.
Its important to keep in perspective how rapidly the internet is growing everyday. Staying “net-savvy” is imperative not only for keeping up with social networking but also professional communication as well. There are too many books published everyday to read all of them and comb through that information by hand. Although it is important to be able to research information in the library, keeping up with internet advancement will ultimately prove to be more beneficial in the future. Sometimes it seems as if being sufficiently net savvy is too overwhelming. There are so many different search engines, blog sites, and networking sites to be familiar with all of them. This is probably most overwhelming for an older generation who did not grow up with the use of the internet. Learning to search the net and discern between credible and false information is an important tool. This article reinforced many of the concepts we have already been over in this class. Much of this information will prove to be useful after graduation when we all move into the working world.
The article was very interesting to me. I also think that it raised a very important point that I had not thought about before. I had always considered myself to be “net-savvy” because I knew how to use Google, and e-mail, and etc. But now I don’t since reading the article and taking Lib 100. However, this article has encouraged me to try and keep up with the times and learn some of the new things offered. For example the databases offered through the library’s website. I think this is essential because of the way our society is rapidly becoming centered around technology.