The youth today in America is being constantly criticized on their ability to concentrate on and retain information. Andrew Keen specifically addresses this issue in his book The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing our Culture. In the chapter The Great Seduction, Keen comments on the fictional characters now playing such a big role in children’s lives. He uses the example of Ricky Bobby (Will Farrell’s character in Talladega Nights) or Burger King’s royal mascot having their own MySpace page. He argues that children ignore real human interaction in favor of “fictional characters whose only purpose is to sell our impressionable kids more toothpaste and hamburgers”(Keen). Andrew Keen implies that kids these days are no longer able to think for themselves and rely solely on the internet and technology. “Cutting and pasting, of course, is child’s play on the Web 2.0, enabling a younger generation of intellectual kleptomaniacs, who think their ability to cut and paste a well-phrased thought or opinion makes it their own” (Keen). Keen also proclaims, “a survey published in Education Week found that 54 percent of students admitted to plagiarizing from the internet” (Keen). What I think Keen is mainly concerned about is children not receiving the same quality education as before, or them digressing instead of learning more and more. His concern here is admirable and well intentioned.
I am currently a junior in College. I got to experience first hand the integration of technology and the internet into my classrooms. In first grade computers served as reward for good behavior. The kids who were well behaved were allowed to take their spelling test on one of the four classroom computers. By fourth grade my friends and I were obsessed with AOL, chat rooms and screen names. Throughout middle school and high school I honestly do not remember being required to turn in a handwritten essay. I vaguely remember lessons on brainstorming and writing rough drafts but they are extremely distant. By high school I had learned how to assemble my “works cited” page within minutes. I would be sure to use the required amount of quotes from text and gather the rest of my information from Google or (dare I even say) “.com” websites! That was always a big one with teachers, “don’t use a website ending in .com!” But it was easy to outsmart my teachers. Just like Keen said, I admit to taking credit for some copy and pasted material. I mean I would never use an article word for word. But there were several late nights where I essentially just summarized what I had seen on a couple websites. It is this aspect of my education that I too believe causes some reason for concern.
There are many ways in which technology has aided my education as well though.
I believe that I was able to get away with lot of what I did because the students were far more advanced on the internet than teachers.
As this gap (hopefully) closes, students will be able to get away with far less because their teachers are more familiar with the internet. From personal testimony, I can say that as I reached my senior year in high school and during the last three years in college, I felt like I was on a more even playing field with teachers and professors. It seemed as if I had experienced the whole spectrum of student to teacher interactions. Its gone from my teachers refusing to accept homework via email to completing college courses that are entirely web based. If your going to compare the positive and negative effects the internet has had on my education, the negative effects comprise such a small portion that they are, well, negatory! Sure me and my friends get distracted at times by funny YouTube videos or fake Wikipedia entries but that is completely overshadowed by our genuine interests in gripping topics. We might Google some answers to questions
“but when we’re engaged by the assignment, we’ll point out objections, elaborations, and the unexpected connections” - David Weinberger, Everything is Miscellaneous
In fact, “some teachers have started classroom weblogs so there’s a place where students can share links to material related to the classroom topics, and together tease out the implications of what has already been understood. Classroom blogs are a place to be complex together.”
I can appreciate Keen’s arguments but I see them more as a fear of change. As with any progress or technological innovation comes the good and the bad. It is our duty as human, students, Americans, and internet users, to choose how we are going to use the internet. In Keens arguments he conveniently leaves out the fact that children have been targeted by advertisements since radios and televisions became part of our households. Children were cheating on homework assignments long before the computer was even invented. I plan to have children someday. And when my child comes home with math homework that looks like Greek to me, I can rest assured knowing that he/she can instantly connect with classmates or a math tutor online. The internet is not disintegrating education. It is actually expanding it and turning it into something that encompasses our lives 24-7, not just when seated in a traditional classroom. I do encourage us to not only critique the internet but make sure we are not letting it control us. The internet is a tool that will allow us to achieve things we have not yet imagined and it is up to us to keep on improving it.
Everyone in America has undoubtedly seen the famous “Hope” portrait of President Barack Obama. Though never officially accepted by the Obama campaign while he was running for office, this artwork became symbolic for many of his supporters. Created by street artist Shepard Fairey, this picture was soon plastered on the walls of many city streets, on t-shirts, coffee cups and anywhere else you can think of. In February of 2009, A.P. officials contacted Fairey demanding payment for using the photo and portions of the money he has received from using it. Mr. Fairey’s lawyers argue that this incident does not break any copyright laws and falls under the category of fair use. More importantly, the freelance photographer, Mannie Garcia, who snapped the famous shot, has no problem with Fairey using it as inspiration. He is apparently satisfied with the original and creative artwork Fairey created from his original photograph.
), I still have a lot of questions about Keen’s point of view. But enough of that – shall blog/rant about him and others later on….
