Wonders of Internet require cautious use
Roxanna Latifi, reporter

    People have had to keep up with the latest inventions to stay current through the years of technological development. And whether a 5 year old in kindergarten or a 20 year old in college, students are craving the Internet.

   But does technology hurt us or help us?

   Do students rely too heavily on the Net, and does it take the place of learning?

   Professor Sherry Turkle from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said that the Internet doesn’t help students learn, but just gives information to the students.

   “Gadgets can bring you information. They can’t bring you knowledge of what to do with it,” she said in an article on CNN.com.

   According to Pew Internet and the American Life Project’s latest survey, college students rely on the Internet more than ever.

   The survey reports that 86 percent of college students go online compared to 59 percent of the general population. Forty-seven percent of those first began using the Internet while in lower grades while 49 reported they didn’t start using the Internet until they sought higher education.

   Colleges and universities spend millions of dollars to wire dorms, classrooms and labs with the Internet. Seventy-nine percent of students agree that the Net is a positive aspect within their education.

   The survey was based on 2,054 answers given by students from colleges nationwide last March and June. For more information, log on to http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=71.

   Students use the Internet not only for social and entertainment purposes but for educational needs as well.

   Chat groups are formed among students to discuss an assignment, and professors can be reached via Internet. In fact, more professors are making it mandatory for students to log on for assignments.

   Institutions are becoming convinced that technology is a positive asset and sometimes necessary.

   “As much as you try to stay low-tech, it’s a high-tech world, and you kind of have to give way to that,” A.J. Morales, a New York University student, said in the CNN.com article.

   At the University of South Dakota, students are required to purchase a Personal Digital Assistant or PDA. PDAs first got their start as electronic address books but now are equipped with a wireless Internet connection.

   TCC’s Campus Cruiser program, instituted last year on a trial basis, serves as a way for students and professors to communicate through the Internet. More professors are requiring students to use their accounts and keep up with assignments, announcements, and grades.

   It never occurred to me that we students might be relying on the Internet too heavily.

   Personally, I love the Net. Vital information from all over the world is just a click away, whereas a student researching in the library simply cannot attain great quantities of information so quickly.

   After using the web for my first college research paper, I found it extremely helpful and most convenient. It didn’t take me days to attain the required amount of information to complete my paper; instead, by using the Net, it took me a couple of hours.

   Anyone can design a Web page and include false statements and pass it off as reliable. Are we cheating ourselves by logging on to the Net instead of opening a book?

   There is no doubt that technology such as the Internet helps bring us vital information from all over the world in a matter of seconds.

   There is also no doubt that the Net can expose us to issues faster than a book.

   My concern is we rely on it too much.

   The Internet is a wonderful invention, but all people, not just students, should question the quality and quantity of information received from the Net.