Internet and Education

I have two viewpoints on using the Internet in the classroom and it is based on personal experience. As an undergrad when we had a computer in front of us, especially with the capability to use the Internet I would venture a guess that I was doing classwork maybe 50 percent of the time. I looked at it as daydreaming on the world wide web. For instance "it sure is cold out, I wonder how much it would cost to go to Vegas" and so forth.

Since entering grad school, when I bring my computer to class I find myself doing work and researching and would venture a guess that 75 percent of the time I am using my computer for the forces of good. Yes I still check my email and sometimes check the score of a ball game but certainly not as much as when I was younger.

What does this tell me? That if computers are in the classroom, teacher should be allowed to see what the student is looking at. If it is a personal computer it might become an issue because of privacy issues that I could not even begin to address. However, if its the schools property then I feel its fair game.