Technology: should it be in or out of the classrooms? How technology is destroying the democratic educational system, and what can be done to prevent it

Jessica Morgan

Dr. Nathaniel Preston

English 118, Paper 3

October 8, 2003

"Technology: In or Out of the Classrooms"

Imagine growing up in "Privilege Suburbia, USA;" you spend your days surfing the World Wide Web and cruising in your brand new Mustang Cobra that your parents bought for you. On the other end of the spectrum, imagine you live in "Backwoods, USA." You have no idea what the World Wide Web is. You spend your spare time riding your prized 1982 Chevy pickup-you bought and rebuilt yourself-down old dirt roads surrounded by the counties prized cotton crops. Now, imagine that the internet is no longer available to you, and you are forced to visit the library because you must research and write a six page paper including a works cited page on Galileo and his mighty telescope. When you walk in, you are amazed to see that there are no computers at your disposal.

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You ask the librarian how to get on the internet, and she replies with a blank stare. Then you ask how to find information on Galileo. She smiles and points you to an out dated version of the card catalog that you vaguely remember from the third grade. Do you really have any idea where to start? The internet and the World Wide Web cause a major gap between the young, old, privileged, and poor. And, the emphasis and praise placed on the technology has created even more mediums of laziness for the people of the United States. However, the most troublesome difference between the separate nations within USA is that the some have the means/technology to provide adequate education and the rest fall far behind; the solution is to reduce the emphasis and demand of technology in the classroom and across the US in order...