Thinking about what a next software innovation will do to change your life again in relation to the daily technology you use? Mega developers like Google and Microsoft are,and companies with the means to provide tools for distribution and monetizing of software are too.
Early stage companies like Bunndle are "rethinking how the world's developers distribute their software" so it gets to your PC or Smart Phone. Or maybe you're asking another question. Perhaps the most important one, is internet making us smarter?
Some experts for Pew Internet Research agree that “by 2020 it will be clear that the internet has improved and enhanced reading, writing and the rendering of knowledge.”Compared with the 69 percent of experts who believe this projection, 27 percent believe “that by 2020 it will be clear the internet has diminished and endangered reading, writing, and the intelligent rendering of knowledge.”Two central researched themes related to this discussion are,
- People are doing more reading and writing now, and that has to be better than the alternative. Participation breeds engagement.
- Reading and writing will be different in 10 years. There will be a new fluidity in media creation and “screen” literacy will become more important.
What has been the impact of the internet on institutions? Also according to Pew Internet Research? “by 2020, innovative forms of online corporation will result in significantly and more efficient and responsive governments, business, non profits and other mainstream institutions.”A hefty 71 percent of experts agree with this projection, while 26 percent believe “by 2020, governments, businesses, non profits will primarily retain familiar 20th century models for conduct of relationships with citizens and consumers online and offline”.
I’m going to stick with the Pew Research Center source, just because it’s an organization that providing some of the best clear research on this topic. So, what are the downsides of Internet use?
Writer and journalist Frank Sanello quotes in his article, Is the Internet Making Us Dummer or Smarter, psychologist Dr. Michael Finichel as early as 1999 revealed the results of his survey at an American Psychological Association Conference, that shows “the internet can have an opposite effect, increasing ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), a reversal of the fortunate effects of reading more during childhood, and a cornucopia of other learning disorders.”
Finally, it sounds like a mixed bag for the future related to the expansive topic. There are many other questions to be asked and categories of the topic to consider. An unqualified guess is; of course some will become factually smarter in this new decade as a result of the internet, yet some won’t be smarter at all because smarts begins with a good background in the basics. And what good are facts if we don’t know context that requires many other kinds of facts as a starting point? Are we talking about learning to read or learning to think?
Some learning theorists would argue that smart and smarter related to acquiring knowledge is about connecting the dots that starts with qualified thinkers and teachers touching a student (young or old), listening to a student in real time and relating with a student though support and gesture that solidifies learning. It's the basis for all learning and most importantly, how to learn. We're just beginning to understand some of the learning curve related to online and virtual learning.Yet, despite all the guesses about it, many would agree it’s an exciting time for technology, learning and the potentials!
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