I really love your image! (And that doesn't even begin to show just how much the Internet offers!) I remember being in middle school and learning how to research on the computer. Once I got to high school, if a teacher mentioned having to go to the library and get a book for a paper, I remember the whole class (including me) would sigh and moan. I remember thinking: "Why do I have to walk all the way to the library and go through all that trouble when I could just get the same information online and maybe even find the e-readers version of these books online!" Suddenly an alarm went off in my head: "That's exactly what I'll do!" And that became a practice of mine every single time a teacher asked me to get a book for research. I would go online and search for texts via Google (even if Google Books only offered a chapter or two I would just read those two chapters and pull quotes from there--better than going to the library, right?!). Then, I would site the source as if I went to the library and had the book. I'm not saying this is right, but it worked. Now as I reminisce about this, I realize that as students find easier and more accessible ways to gain information, they will probably become less tolerant of previous ways. As a student, I just couldn't understand why a teacher would want us to search through books in the library when we can easily search online and pinpoint the exact information we want without searching amongst numerous books. Although I think library-education is important and students should learn the wonderful resources available in a library, I think it is important to embrace the technology we have at our fingertips. Students should also have courses on how to use technology for research correctly like using journals and other databases.
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ReplyDeleteHi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI really love your image! (And that doesn't even begin to show just how much the Internet offers!) I remember being in middle school and learning how to research on the computer. Once I got to high school, if a teacher mentioned having to go to the library and get a book for a paper, I remember the whole class (including me) would sigh and moan. I remember thinking: "Why do I have to walk all the way to the library and go through all that trouble when I could just get the same information online and maybe even find the e-readers version of these books online!" Suddenly an alarm went off in my head: "That's exactly what I'll do!" And that became a practice of mine every single time a teacher asked me to get a book for research. I would go online and search for texts via Google (even if Google Books only offered a chapter or two I would just read those two chapters and pull quotes from there--better than going to the library, right?!). Then, I would site the source as if I went to the library and had the book. I'm not saying this is right, but it worked. Now as I reminisce about this, I realize that as students find easier and more accessible ways to gain information, they will probably become less tolerant of previous ways. As a student, I just couldn't understand why a teacher would want us to search through books in the library when we can easily search online and pinpoint the exact information we want without searching amongst numerous books. Although I think library-education is important and students should learn the wonderful resources available in a library, I think it is important to embrace the technology we have at our fingertips. Students should also have courses on how to use technology for research correctly like using journals and other databases.