The internet has managed to change the way that society works
significantly over the last 20 years or so.
However it is only successful when all risks are being prevented. The internet has now become a major convenience in our lives, you can online shop for everything, do your banking, pay bill, work from home, interact in many forms... you can live your live through the internet but there are precautions that need to be taken. There are millions of viruses, fraud is a major concern when typing in credit card details etc. Although convenient, like most things the internet isn't safe. People are also exposed to 'bad' websites because people can literally post everything and anything on the internet, and also people can pretend to be who they aren't. Especially when it comes to children, there should always be locks on certain websites to protect them from the bad parts of the internet. The convenience part of the internet can sometimes stop people from being aware of the bad areas, and this is when, in my opinion the internet can stop being such a great revolution in society. Reading back it sounds like i'm really negative about the internet, which i'm not at all because I depend on it so much, there are just a lot of harmful risks within this "new media."
Hi Cara,
ReplyDeleteTry to increase your online visibility a bit this week? There's a lecture you and your colleagues haven't responded to as well as several questions you're directed to think about. Obviously you can't post on all, because you'd not have time to do the reading/thinking! Still try to emulate some of your more 'visible' colleagues.
Anyway, you voice a common concern over kids and the new media. Do you think kids learn the right things about it? As kids are such an important market for it -shouldn't they be alerted to such fundamental things as what cookies do? What happens when you put in a search query? Why 'registrational interactivity' might be something to be careful with? What is RSA encryption and why the padlock/key icon is important? What is phishing? What are trojans? etc. In other words, isn't there a level of 'health & safety' info about cyberspace that kids can't get from parents -and wouldn't be interested in finding out for themselves? Do you and your mates understand all this stuff? Should you have been taught it? Would you have listened?
Google & Wikipedia is all very well, but do kids need to be taught how to use them -as opposed to the freedom & security issues of going online at all?