Is the Internet making us dumber?

Or should that be dumberer? Sorry Couldn't help myself. Not funny, I know.

In previous teaching sessions I may have mentioned a book that has had quite a big impact on my thinking and learning in recent years. It's called The Shallows by an author called Nicholas Carr and looks at how Internet use can change our brain physiology.

It was in my mind again today because of a news story I'd seen on how kids prefer to read from screens than via paper resources. The methodology could charitably be described as shaky, but I thought I'd share it, if for no other reason than to give you the opportunity to look at its flaws. The BBC reported the study like this.


I also wanted to guide you towards the video I've posted here though. It's Nicholas Carr talking about the issues in his book, such as how the Internet fractures our attention, how Google ranks its results but also how it can improve hand/eye coordination.

I'm always keen to talk with students concerning the arguments surrounding attention, access and how you can make researching online less problematic, so contact me if you want to discuss any of these issues.

How to find Social Work research online.

There are a lot of pitfalls you need to be wary of when using the Internet to find research.

I'd put my Top 3 pitfalls as...

1) It will eat up time like you won't believe.
2) You may end up finding material that you're asked to pay for.
3) There will be times when you can't be certain that what you're referencing is reliable.

But it doesn't have to be hard going. There are guides to help you. Here is the Intute guide to how to research the Internet for students of Social Work.

And there are other guides for Social Policy, health and social care and Social research methods.

The Internet is quite big.

They don't call me 'The Master of the Understated' for nothing, you know.

I've started to think that the Internet might be around for a while.

I'm 43 and when I'm pondering technological advancement (yes, I really do sometimes...) I find it quite useful to compare the rapid changes in technology with how I've been forced to adapt since leaving school 27 years ago. My secondary school had one (that's 1!!!!!!!!!) computer. And only the clever kids got to touch it. I was not a clever kid. So, unsurprisngly, I decided that computers were not for me and I decided to dig holes and put trees in them instead.

But then I got ideas above my station and decided to go to University. And because I finished in 1998 the Internet was really only in its toddler stages; you know - falling down a lot, limited vocabulary and quite slow and needy. Hence, I managed to avoid technology again.

And then a short 4 years later I started my Masters and every single meaningful thing I did for the course was online. I'd estimate 90% of my research was online, most of the forms I filled in to access resources were online. I communicated with other people on the course via discussion boards. Whereas 4 years previously we'd have met in the pub to discuss projects. Okay, so maybe it wasn't all progress...

So I basically have two points.

1) Considering how fast we've needed to adapt to the juggernaut of new technologies I'm amazed that so few people seem to be freaking out.

2) If you're one of those people who feels they're capable of breaking the Internet into little pieces by just looking at a computer I know how you feel.

If you've read everything above you deserve a reward.

So here's a video showing how big the Internet is.