| Both students and teachers consider the internet as a gift because it makes teaching and learning much more convenient for the class. Little do they realize that they rely on the internet maybe a little too much. What would happen if suddnly electricity went out and the students can't access their computers? They would miss out on the teacher's emails and updates. If they didn't go to lecture that day, they'd also miss out on the material because they can't webcast. Even worse when some argue that many people aren't able to access the internet due to particular reasons.show also that there are differences between White and African-Americans in terms of their use on the internet. Research shows that many more Whites are able to use the internet because they have better access to computers. As opposed to the African-Americans, many of them can’t have access to computers due to the social status of the majority (3). Asides from lack of internet access, the convenience of it can potentially be a huge problem as nowadays wireless internet is increasingly being spread. It’s often a problem when students come to class with their laptops now that wireless internet connection is established virtually all over campus. The fact that instructors don’t really know what these students are doing on the laptops makes it hard for them to know if they’re learning or not (4). Basically, the internet's plan to make everything convenient backfires as many problems occur for when teachers and students excessively rely on it. What's more important to look at is what the future holds for college students as more and more technological enhancements are coming out each day and the fear of them completely replacing lectures and the classroom curriculum.
Looking at some recent articles about findings on the internet's affect on students nowadays, the question of whether it really does have adverse effects on them if relied on excessively is obvious. The main target concern for solving this problem is the reliance factor. If one decreases the reliance on the internet, then this problem wouldn't occur. The main factor that's affecting internet reliance is convenience. However, that is the challenge that we face while trying to solve this problem, as convenience is highly desired by many people, which is why more and more technological enhancments are being produced each year. Because the internet is convenient and actually helps learning become easier, completely removing it in college class curriculums is out of the question. Many could argue that it's even going to replace the classroom curriculum in the future, but findings show that lectures are irreplaceable and internet teaching cannot diminish the fact that lectures are needed (2). There are plenty of arguments out there that proves the fact that internet cannot replace the learning environment but more so the other way around. “The belief in the assured future of the virtual university delivering web-based courses has been replaced by a more holistic approach, where video and the WWW are ‘used to enhance a classroom, not replace it’" (7). As in the problem of difficulty of accessing the internet for some people, college campuses nowadays have internet connection virtually everywhere on campus, whether in computer labs or wireless in auditoriums, thus there shouldn't be a problem for access. And in terms of wireless being way too convenient for students with laptops that they wouldn't pay attention in class, many could look at it the other way around and instead of thinking that there is a chance of them not learning if they're not paying attention, they could think of the benefits associated with itl if those students are actually accessing the class websites or doing productive things for the class. Only then that it would be beneficial in the classroom. Therefore, the best thing we could do is that we can limit the use of internet in college classes so that they wouldn't excessively rely on it. Some possible actions could be that classes could limit the amount of material that is posted online, which forces students to attend lecture. Another way is to also apply other motivation factors that affect lecture attendance. Such incentives can range from extra credit or even exclusive information only available to those attending lecture. Overall, there are many ways in which classes can decrease reliance on the internet without decreasing convenience. With more and more technological enhancements being produced each year, convenience is being even more affected, but with the help of class incentives and motivations to decrease reliance, then the adverse effects of increased convenience will be prevented and the college class curriculum would be left untouched. Learning will still be enhanced without having an increasing dependence on convenience.
|
