by Rob Merlino

Created on: February 18, 2007   Last Updated: May 02, 2007

About fifteen years ago, I would have typed this article on my old Apple IIC "computer" which I used for word processing. The internet, as it exists today, had no place in my life or the lives of most Americans. Since that time the internet, its applications, its ubiquity and its effect on the lives of people all over the world has changed the very social fabric of much of the human race. The advent of the internet has made our world smaller and our ability to find information faster. The internet has changed and will continue to change the way we educate people forever. I can think of no other invention, save the automobile or the airplane, that has had such an impact on society and education.

Internet use has many implications in the modern classroom. The Clinton Administration had the notion "to connect all of America's schools to digital networks by the end of the 1990's." (Starr) President Bush's No Child Left Behind initiative stresses the "need to effectively employ technology to better meet the needs of students, parents, teachers, and administrators." (Us Dept Ed). Budget cuts for teacher training, NCLB mandates that do not include technology literacy and the lack of research linking technology and academic achievement has "educators and education officials scrutinizing their potential value as an instructional tool." (Burns) Computers are here to stay and they will continue to be available in schools regardless of NCLB or any other initiative that comes down the pike. "9-in-10 school-age children (6-to-17 years old) had access to a computer in 2000, with 4-in-5 using a computer at school and 2-in-3 with
one at home." (Newburger) These statistics do not take income or ethnicity into account-there are disparities to be sure (Kauchak, 461-462)- but if all these students are connected to the internet, what is the impact on learning? Two major factors that will impact learning are the breadth and depth of research capabilities and the increased availability of and desire for online learning or "virtual classrooms." Both these developments will greatly impact teaching now and in the future.

Fifteen years ago, writing any kind of research paper involved schlepping off to the library to find books, magazine articles and journals to support the thesis being presented. Source materials that were present in the writer's library of choice needed to be copied or borrowed or in many instances read in the reference section as they were not allowed to be removed

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