Source: www.edarticle.com
The internet is something most of us take for granted. We look up recipes, stay connected to friends and family, and research many different topics. More and more devices such as phones, e-readers, and MP3 players connect to the internet. And many students use the internet on a regular basis to do research for papers and other school assignments. In addition to the internet, many students use programs such as word processing programs, drawing programs and photo shop programs.
It should be reassuring that more and more students are using the computer. That is until you look at statistics in the states that perform worst where education is concerned. Recent statistics out of Louisiana, which routinely ranks near the bottom in terms of education and graduation rates, show that between 32 to 40 percent of students do not have access to computers or internet at home.
For a whole generation of parents and grandparents that number may not seem too alarming, after all, they managed to go to school, even to college and advanced degrees without internet access. But the world has changed. In years past, one expense that many parents incurred early in their child’s life was the purchase of an encyclopedia set. As the computer and internet became a household fixture, many families replaced the purchase of encyclopedias with internet access. It could be argued that students with computer and internet access at home have an unfair advantage over students who do not have that access.
Consider the student who does have internet access at home. With a five page report due, that student sits in their own home, pulls up the internet on the computer, and at their fingertips have thousands of sources from which to gather information. After collecting his or her data, this student types in the report, giving little care to the correct spelling or grammar, since both of those are easy enough to fix