Review of the Effects of the Internet on Students - Annotated Bibliography Example

Due Annotated Bibliography A Review of the Effects of the Internet on College Blankenship, M. (2011). How Social Media Can and Should Impact Higher Education. Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed For Quick Review, 76(7), 39- 42 The article details a survey conducted of, approximately, 1,000 different schools to determine how rooted social media and other web atmospheres are within higher education; 80% of the survey participants admitted that they are dependent upon social media, both, as leisure and as part of their teaching and learning processes. He focuses upon five points, which are called “literacies;” attention, participation, collaboration, network awareness, critical consumption, which are all a part of learning how to use the technology as an effective tool for making the best use of the resource. This article acknowledges that whether good or bad, wikis and other 2.0 applications are not going away. The author presents himself as a realist. He does not see the internet as a flawless environment, but he accepts that it will only become more depended upon and therefore we should work to make the best of what it can offer. This source is useful to researching this topic because it offers a balancing element that is helpful for unbiased viewpoint of the issue. Ceyhan, A. (2011). University Students' Problematic Internet Use and Communication Skills According to the Internet Use Purposes. Educational Sciences: Theory And Practice, 11(1), 69-77. This article approaches the issues associated with college students pertaining to their communication skills and what promotes their internet use. Are college students more dependent on the Internet for academic or social purposes? The author found in the course of the study detailed that more students use the internet for personal or entertainment purposes that for academic or information purposes. In fact, there are a disturbing number of college students who use the internet out of loneliness, seeking attention from strangers in cyberspace. This can be a serious problem, and, potentially, in this day and age, a dangerous one. This article is pointing out that one of the major side-effects of the internet on college students includes its ability to distract students and misguide them on social levels. This source is allows a nice foundation for the history and overall understanding of the topic. This is a prime example of some ways that the internet directly has upon the students in higher education settings. Eldakak, S. (2010). Does Applying Ethics in Education Have an Effective Impact in the Classroom?. Online Submission, The author is interested in determining if the easy access to information that the internet allows has negatively impacted the ethics that once existed in the classroom. With education sometimes now entirely available online, that isolation and lack of supervision could be negatively affecting students ability to resist cheating or plagiarism. How can anyone be certain that the person that is supposed to taking a test is actually taking that test? In truth, at the moment, you cannot. Also, there is he consideration of what technological devices that the students may bring with them allowing them to cheat, like a cell phone and the like, which can sometimes be unfamiliar with the student’s cheating. This source is helpful in reviewing this topic because it verifies that there is a lapse of ethics that are being nudged, if not crossed, because of the freedom of information that the internet provides. The fact that the internet and our attitude towards it can become irresistible as a tool to cheat or plagiarize definitely indentifies itself as a large affect that it is having on college students. Englander, F., Terregrossa, R. A., & Wang, Z. (2010). Internet use among college students: tool or toy?. Educational Review, 62(1), 85-96. doi:10.1080/00131910903519793 This article explores how students perceive the internet. Is it a tool? Is it a toy? Unfortunately, it would appear that, although not all students perceive the internet as a pure entertainment toy, many do. In fact, the presence of all the distracting information on the internet may be actively lowering a given students ability to focus on schoolwork. For some students they spend an unusually high number of hours enjoying the entertainment available on the internet, and pay far less time on the studying, via books or the internet. The author, overall, admits that it would appear that the positive aspects of internet usage are outweighed by the negative elements. This article is relevant in that it points out that results show that student grades are negatively impacted by the “distracting” nature of the internet. It, also, allows for the perspective of someone that flatly proposes that the internet, in some cases, may do much more harm than good. Gallant, T. (2008). Twenty-First Century Forces Shaping Academic Integrity. ASHE Higher Education Report, 33(5), 65-78. This article attempts to discuss the loss of integrity in higher education that has come with advancing technologies. The author feels that little is actually being done to prevent it, which is why it continues. Teachers are focused more on grades and other student achievements that they have little time or little inclination to actually, always, verify that the student’s resources are legitimate or plagiarized. This could definitely correlate to the fact that many students attending online educational institutes, also, have no direct supervision and have the temptations to cheat flaunted in front of their faces. This means that all of higher education as a whole needs to reform itself in order to adapt to the advances and changes that the internet brings to higher education. This article is relevant research on this topic that discusses how institutions have to change to accommodate the new technology; educators need to be as techno-savvy as the students that they are teaching. Godwin, P. (2007). Information literacy and the internet generation. Library & Information Update, 6(3), 36-39. This article discusses the uses and misuses of internet information and the potential locations of false information versus a reliable source. This is a huge problem with college students being more and more dependent on the information available on the internet. It is imperative that, both, students and instructors need to be aware of the where valid information can be found and how to identify the sources that are not. Many people are aware that sites like Wikipedia can be edited and the information there can be altered and changed as an outsider might seem fit; there are several such sites. This is a great source for understanding the misleading nature of sites like Wikipedia and other 2.0 applications, as well as, the necessity for awareness of such things needs to be more heavily instilled into college campuses. Hall, S. E. (2011). Is It Happening? How to Avoid the Deleterious Effects of Plagiarism and Cheating in Your Courses. Business Communication Quarterly, 74(2), 179- 182. This article focuses on the occurrence of cheating and plagiarism in classrooms of college students. The author explains that the problem of plagiarism is rampant in college campuses. The problem is that many instructors are “turning a blind eye” or a “deaf ear” to the problem. This the author discusses can only encourage lazy students to continue the false practice. The author, also, an educator, explains the policies used in her own classroom and endorses that other instructors create similar policies that promotes integrity and actual consequences when infractions involving plagiarism are made. It focuses not just on how it occurs, but, also, on ways to combat the occurrences and to deter in from continuing to happen in the future. This source is useful in that discusses how the internet allows such lazy behavior to be born. Once they become comfortable then using the internet to plagiarize will become habit; this is very relevant to the research on this topic. Another well balanced source, this article will only add positively to the research and understanding of this topic. Hannay, W. M. (2004). Plagiary, Googling, and the Mouse: Is The Internet Killing Our Ability To Do Research?. Against The Grain, 16(6), 34-39. This article is focused specifically on the impact of the internet on how students do their academic research. It points out that the convenience of internet outweighs the student’s desire to spend time researching in the campus library. In fact, the habit of seeking out the internet as a research tool is being endorsed in elementary schools, junior highs, high schools, and of course, colleges. The author puts forth that his own son visits the library to do his work because it is quiet, but never uses any of the research sources available there. Presently, most research is not done by sifting through old documents and big, hardbound books any longer. It, also, commentaries upon the probable pitfalls with information gained from the internet; not everything one reads on the internet is exactly guaranteed to be accurate. This article is helpful to the research for this topic because it delves into the dependence that is being taught and a young age concerning the information that can be gained from the internet. Also, it sets forth the changing trends in research and information gathering. Klausman, J. (1999). Teaching about Plagiarism in the Age of the Internet. Teaching English In The Two Year College, 27(2), 209-212. This article delves deeper into the different types of plagiarism that occurs within university and college campuses. It discusses how easy students find it simply to “copy and paste” from the internet when doing an assignment. One is simply regurgitating the same information you read with slight variation, but that is still plagiarism if the thoughts and expression of it is not your own; copy and pasting different information from multiple sources to build a work of your own is much more common. This kind of plagiarism requires the least amount of effort on the part of the plagiarist. There is no original or informed thought from the student just copies of other people’s work. Many college and university students have admitted to being involved with plagiarizing from sources that they have found on the internet. This is a strong resource because it focuses intently on plagiarism and will allow for strong comparative information. McCarthy, G., & Rogerson, A. (2009). Links are not enough: Using originality reports to improve academic standards, compliance and learning outcomes among postgraduate students. International Journal For Educational Integrity, 5(2), 47- 57. This article seeks to vindicate that a large portion of plagiarism in higher education is made far easier by internet access, but sometimes the incidents of plagiarism are not intentional. Students need to be more aware of how to use the internet as a research tool correctly, which includes understanding what constitutes plagiarism. Many students may not be aware of the difference of attributed information and a quotation, and the necessity to acknowledge where you borrowed that information. Many students, also, miss the point of a citation within a written work. The point of the citation is not to provide you with ideas, but to support or oppose the points that you make. It is meant to empower and support your position or research. If students are going to be dependent on internet information then they need to be aware of how important it is to give credit where credit is due. This source will be valuable to the research on this topic because it provides a balanced and honest alternative to campuses full of intentionally cheating student, when, in fact, many of those instances may be due to ignorance not intent. Wang, E., & Li, H. (2012). The Relationship between PSSS and Internet Addiction: the Mediating Effect of Loneliness. (English). Qingdao Daxue Shifanxueyuan Xuebao/Journal Of Teachers College Qingdao University, 29(3), 38-41. The authors of this article look for the psychological aspects as to why college students are becoming addicted to the internet. They relate internet addiction to a high level of loneliness, in some cases, correlate directly. Much as other authors have stated there is more promoting the internet’s effect on students. The author explains that students who are lonely will seek out connection with strangers without actual physical interaction. However, many of these same students are, also, tremendously depressed. There are a lot of ways that the internet can negatively affect lonely, depressed college students. Internet bullying is not just a childhood epidemic and such online activities can make recipients even more depressed and lonely. This article is beneficial because of the valid support it shows towards the truly negative contribution of internet addiction into play. This is a relevant point to be made on this topic. Young, J. R. (2013). Online Classes See Cheating Go High Tech. Education Digest, 78(5), 4. This article tackles the impact of the internet on higher education from the perspective form fully online courses. Not only are students doing their research online they can, also, attend school seminars the same way. Online education really does tempt student ethics and integrity because the opportunity to cheat in one’s own home is rather convenient. The author describes an interview with a college student where the young man detailed how he was able to receive an A in an online course that he never studied for, nor even opened the textbook. He was able to do so by cheating the testing software used by his school. The article explains that students are more tech-savvy than ever and if combating cheating, plagiarism via the internet is ever to occur, then technology must be used to counter act the occurrences. “Fight fire with fire,” I guess one could say. According to students it not so difficult to accomplish the task of cheating the system that said, then the system needs to improve. This article is a valuable resource on this topic because it explains the issues with modern students being more tech-savvy than the generation before them, therefore giving them a kind of advantage, in some ways. To would be wise for education institutions and educators to be more aware of the potential for cheating, and plagiarism, as well as, ways to combat it. Read More