4.6 Skills For Future Careers

            Despite the fear of critics such as Nicholas Carr and Maryanne Wolf, who worry that persistent use of the Internet will cause students to become less critical thinkers, learning online actually promotes skills that are useful for future careers. As the world becomes increasingly digital, it is imperative that students learn how to work and focus in an online environment. With many careers focused around deadlines and research, knowing how to quickly locate relative information online is an important skill set for students to have. According to Gary Small in his book iBrain, while the Internet can be cognitively demanding, it also improves multi-tasking skills, improves typing, and teaches users how to search and locate information quickly online (21). As a result, increasing attention should be placed not only on the reading comprehension of students, but also on their ability to navigate online. 

            Indeed, in his article for The New York Times, titled Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading, Motoko Rich discusses how some Web evangelists believe that, “children should be evaluated for their proficiency on the Internet just as they are tested on their print reading comprehension” (2008). In doing so, schools can help students early on to learn successful navigation skills, and ways in which to critically analyze the authority and validity of the content that they are accessing.

Students learning using interactive websites

            Prof. Willard R. Daggett, CEO of the International Center for Leadership in Education, supports this need of Internet proficiency testing, stating, “if the education system is to prepare its students to meet the demands of an increasingly technological world…if it is to be effective at all…it must integrate technology into the academic curriculum” (1). In a report for a conference on education and technology, Daggett emphasizes how students of the 21^st century need a technology-based education in order to survive in the technological world in which they will soon be working. Daggett recommends that teachers use the computers available in their schools and classrooms as more than just a mere typewriter. Rather, teachers should be utilizing the limitless amount of information accessible through the Internet in order to enhance the learning experience in the classroom, and promote computer literacy (1).

            As a result, it is evident that interactive websites pose an advantage to students when it comes to preparing for their future careers. By navigating hypertext and online media, students learn basic research skills and strategies for locating useful information quickly. These skills can be easily transferred to the workplace, as more and more careers embrace the advances of digital technology. As much as critics like Wolf and Carr may prefer books, there is no denying the fact that the future of today's students lies in the digital world.

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Sources:


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Carr, Nicholas G. The shallows: what the Internet is doing to our brains. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.

Daggett, Willard R. "Preparing Students For Their Technological Futures." International Center for Leadership in Education. May 2010. Web.

Rich, Motoko. “Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?” The New York Times 27 July             2008: A1. Web. 

Wolf, Maryanne. Proust and the squid: the story and science of the reading brain. New York: Harper, 2007. Print.