Reading Log

"Are College Students Techno Idiots?" by Paul D. Thacker

"Techno idiots, huh? Then we have our work cut out for us" by Christopher Dawson
"Digital Divide" from Wikipedia

Summary: These articles talk about how the young adults of today may have the ease of using the internet, but they lack the ability to use it wisely. Thacker's article shows actual studies which have been done to show that high schoolers and recent grads are unable to pass an information and communication literacy examination

Response: Being a young adult myself, I can agree that we don't always know what is legitimate and how to find reputable sources for different areas of research. I think the reason this problem exists is because of our education system. When we were in elementary school, we were still using the card catalog and the classes that are supposed to teach us how to find information were geared toward the library. As we aged and the technology advanced, teachers assumed we knew how to find information since all of their previous classes had been able to do so with the information that was available, a library. Now that the internet was more popular, we were unfamiliar with how to access valid information, but since the teachers we had had never before had to teach it how to find information, they were not about to start. So our generation had to learn on the fly. Of course we use Google. It is fast and convenient, and hey, isn't that the motto of our new world. Most of the time what is useful websites comes up on the first hits of a search, otherwise they wouldn't be so popular. So its not fair to knock us for using the websites that are most popular and often have the most legitimate information. We do what we can on the internet. Our generation was the one who transitioned with the technology, and even though technology still advances, the younger generations are taught in grade school how to properly use these resources. So give us a break, we do the best we can.