The Internet is a Fundamental Aspect of Our Contemporary Lives
Ever since the Industrial Revolution, "progress," as defined by technological advancement, has been exponentially growing. First came new means of power, and through that came new means of production, and through both, new technologies are created, s(t)imulated, and promoted. Even since the birth of the Internet, technology has grown exponentially, and will continue to do so. In the podcast "The Internet of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," danah boyd communicates that as an early internet kid who was first exposed to the internet through her brother's frequent use of the dial-up modem, the rapid growth that has resulted over the subsequent decades has been incredible. But should this necessarily be surprising, considering the data trends?
Thereby, the birth of the Internet is a natural fallout in this renaissance of technological development. As technology in general has grown, means of interpersonal communication and information sharing became streamlined. It is through this process that boyd was enabled to reach out to other internet users to find a safe space to question her sexuality and burgeoning sense of self. Yet according to her research, this can become a bad thing, as kids can use the internet in unhealthy ways, such as to cyberbully or self-bully. While the internet can serve as a plethora of human knowledge and offer seemingly limitless ways to communicate and connect with people, it can also be used for ill purposes, from cyberbullying to nefarious deep web human rights abuses. Thus it is a tool, and it is up to the wielder to use or abuse it.
boyd alludes to this as well when she claims that pain and privilege can be offloaded onto the internet, but also that good qualities, like joy and goodness, can be as well. It is essential to realize that the internet is a human construct, thus it will absorb many snapshots of human experiences, and will by proxy become an instance of human experience. This notion echoes Nicholas Carr's earlier text The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains (which was the OBOM book for 2016-17 here at RIC) by considering how we as a culture are changing with the advent of the internet. Carr claims that the internet has become a cultural shift in terms of advancement, but in that process we lose some sort of skill. Carr cites Nietzsche, who bemoans the change in his writing as a result of the typewriter, and even Socrates, who felt that the written word would derail true knowledge attainment because it did not involve memorization but rather data collection. Like Carr, I believe that some skills are being lost due to the internet, like interpersonal communication and the desire and capability to read books, but I believe that as the written word and typewriter enabled us to outsource and streamline our thoughts, feelings, and communication, then it will add to the evolution of our collective human consciousness. If we own the internet as a part of who we are--as a part of our humanity--then we can make the best use of this tool that we have as a result of our technological genius.
Thereby, as educators, it is critical to teach and instill digital literacy in our students. As Hicks and Hawley Turner emphasize in their article "No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can't Wait," we must avoid the pitfalls of using technology too much, as is the case of their fictitious Access Academy, and allowing lack of access to technology to affect teaching, as is the case for Exodus Elementary. I believe that it is critical to have a healthy balance of traditional writing with paper (btw hemp paper is more eco-friendly) because of the kinesthetic value of writing and learning, but it is also essential to promote good research habits online, to use technology in the classroom that will directly promote student learning, and to practice pedagogy that does not promote the five practices that destroy digital literacy. As teachers of writing in an era where we humans have been writing more than we ever have in our history, it is critical to teach digital literacy because, as has begun to happen, the internet is an extension of our collective human condition. By accepting that brute fact and using the internet as a tool, we can better prepare out students for whatever new innovations and resources that this technological renaissance will produce.
Thereby, the birth of the Internet is a natural fallout in this renaissance of technological development. As technology in general has grown, means of interpersonal communication and information sharing became streamlined. It is through this process that boyd was enabled to reach out to other internet users to find a safe space to question her sexuality and burgeoning sense of self. Yet according to her research, this can become a bad thing, as kids can use the internet in unhealthy ways, such as to cyberbully or self-bully. While the internet can serve as a plethora of human knowledge and offer seemingly limitless ways to communicate and connect with people, it can also be used for ill purposes, from cyberbullying to nefarious deep web human rights abuses. Thus it is a tool, and it is up to the wielder to use or abuse it.
boyd alludes to this as well when she claims that pain and privilege can be offloaded onto the internet, but also that good qualities, like joy and goodness, can be as well. It is essential to realize that the internet is a human construct, thus it will absorb many snapshots of human experiences, and will by proxy become an instance of human experience. This notion echoes Nicholas Carr's earlier text The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains (which was the OBOM book for 2016-17 here at RIC) by considering how we as a culture are changing with the advent of the internet. Carr claims that the internet has become a cultural shift in terms of advancement, but in that process we lose some sort of skill. Carr cites Nietzsche, who bemoans the change in his writing as a result of the typewriter, and even Socrates, who felt that the written word would derail true knowledge attainment because it did not involve memorization but rather data collection. Like Carr, I believe that some skills are being lost due to the internet, like interpersonal communication and the desire and capability to read books, but I believe that as the written word and typewriter enabled us to outsource and streamline our thoughts, feelings, and communication, then it will add to the evolution of our collective human consciousness. If we own the internet as a part of who we are--as a part of our humanity--then we can make the best use of this tool that we have as a result of our technological genius.
Thereby, as educators, it is critical to teach and instill digital literacy in our students. As Hicks and Hawley Turner emphasize in their article "No Longer a Luxury: Digital Literacy Can't Wait," we must avoid the pitfalls of using technology too much, as is the case of their fictitious Access Academy, and allowing lack of access to technology to affect teaching, as is the case for Exodus Elementary. I believe that it is critical to have a healthy balance of traditional writing with paper (btw hemp paper is more eco-friendly) because of the kinesthetic value of writing and learning, but it is also essential to promote good research habits online, to use technology in the classroom that will directly promote student learning, and to practice pedagogy that does not promote the five practices that destroy digital literacy. As teachers of writing in an era where we humans have been writing more than we ever have in our history, it is critical to teach digital literacy because, as has begun to happen, the internet is an extension of our collective human condition. By accepting that brute fact and using the internet as a tool, we can better prepare out students for whatever new innovations and resources that this technological renaissance will produce.
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