I am turning into a passive information receiver as well. If I can use it immediately I will or discard it quickly. The only topics I research on the net pertain to health related ailments and stress. However, I did read a short article this week outside that realm on the evils of blogging. After working in public education I am very disappointed with the direction it is going. I knew something was wrong when the librarian said I was one of the few teachers who still asked to reserve the library. She said that students were no longer required to write research papers in many of the core subjects(not including math).
As for as Google is concerned I do have to hop off the fence here and take a stand for once. I have to come to the conclusion that it is making a portion of our population think less or never get to the point of thinking deeply. I tell my students off the bat that they will not be using Google for their research. All supporting material for their speeches must come from one of the data bases that our school pays for. Then at the very end of the course when they've mastered how to properly write a speech I may let them get away with using google. This is in effort to deter the more than half that plagiarize their work. Of course, now-a-days you cannot take for granted that they learned that word in their high school english class and have to stop and read the definition of plagiarism. I hate doing that. Then there are some who refuse to do assignments if they cannot google their information.
I do understand from the article that technology doesn't dumb down everyone. I love the example of how the invention of the scientific calculator did not discourage engineers from learning penciled math. However, the internet does not always have a positive relationship with all subjects such as english. I've seen one of my ex students in the university bookstore and she was one of the few that I knew would do well in this environment since she never wrote using acronyms. I'm sure for many other Googlers english 1301 must be a wake up call.
So yes the portion of our population that is thinking less would have to be our young people. When young people turn in major research papers not seeing a problem with writing in acronyms one has to think that their thinking is horribly distorted. Whether it be in speech class or english class all students should exercise proper grammar. Sentences still start with a capital letter the last time I read Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. (Yes, I know it is time for me to reread the book as well!) However, instant messaging, twittering, blogging, and e-mails are often written in some form or short hand with little regard for grammar. Search engines still do a lot of student's work making plagiarizing seem inviting. I wonder if there is a published study on which age groups have more success using Google ethically?
