Over the course of getting a masters degree and my first year teaching, I haven't had much time to fall in love. But I have developed one love: I love Google. I remember studying for my GRE in English lit, and I absolutely loved having my computer by my side as I read. If I came across anything in the works of Johnson, Hardy, Arnold (ah, the whole lot of classic writers) that sounded like an allusion to something else (the Bible, Shakespeare, Greek myths, whatever), I immediately Googled it. I am one-hundred-percent convinced that Google has enhanced my reading capabilities and allowed me to make meaningful connections that I never would have been able to with out those six letters of various colors.
I now use Google for everything, and I tell my students to do the same. We've used Google to uncover multiple meanings and symbolic references in "The Scarlet Ibis," look up racist ads and TV shows on YouTube as they pertained to our discussions about To Kill a Mockingbird, and find definitions for obscure Shakespearian words (When I'm asked, "Did Shakespeare REALLY mean THAT?!?!" sometimes I wish the internet wasn't so darn informative.). I've even told my students it's OK to use Google books instead of checking out paper-bound books from the library for their research papers. Although I absolutely get weak in the knees each time I enter a library and would like to foster a similar appreciation for librarians that hold their gray locks up with ninety-two bobby pins in my students, I also know that my competition (iPods, iPhones, TiVo, HDTV, GPS, etc.) is looking pretty stiff these days.
So when I came across Nicholas Carr's article, "Is Google Making Us Stoopid," in The Atlantic this month I was practically certain the title was just a ploy to get people to read the article; I didn't actually think Carr would conclude that yes, Google is making us stupid. I feel that despite being a mass media conglomerate and all the problems that arise from any mass media outlet, Google is making me, and my students, smarter. Well Carr convincingly argues that Google is altering the circuits in our brains, and in the process, is making reading for extended periods of time (i.e., a whole newspaper article) more challenging for our brains. Could it be true: the very thing that I tell my students to use is actually my numero uno enemy and ruining their ability to read a book cover to cover? I'm constantly teaching my students about media literacy and trying to combat the effects of consumerism and desensitization, but after all, the devil's greatest trick was convincing the masses he didn't exist. Shall I dare say it--is Google the modern day antagonist of Paradise Lost?
I don't have an answer, but I do believe that education has the power to conquer all. I would like to believe that as long as we educate our students about how mass media (including Google) influences the way we think at least they have the tools to ask meaningful questions. Granted, our own understanding of such influences is probably significantly limited, but if we give our students the right tools, they will probably be able to ask much more pertinent questions than ourselves. I wonder if it is possible to actually use Google to teach students how to think deeper and make deeper connections on seemingly divergent subjects while Google is designed to shorten their attention spans and quests for information. If that's not possible, I'm worried that we are actually doomed. Google has become the mental and intellectual fabric of modern culture, and if it's not possible to use it and fight its effects simultaneously, we may be in trouble. Don't believe me? Check out Carr's article, then you might. It's scary stuff.
http://theatlantic.com I don't think Carr's article is on the website yet, but another good article to check out from last month's issue, and one that is on the website, is "Higher Education's Cruelest Hoax."
