Internet Essay, Research Paper

According to David Rothenberg the quality of his students papers have dropped significantly along with their ability to think carefully and critically. He attributes the Internet for this lack of original thought in his classroom. I agree with the statement that Rothenberg is proposing about students in my generation. The Internet allows students to type in a topic and then provides them with literally thousands of websites with information that they can just regurgitate into a paper, all with the click of a button.

Where is the thinking process? Where are all the writing webs and outlines students used to do in the sixth grade? They are all gone, the thinking processes as far as research for papers is gone. Students no longer need to access real encyclopedias or go to a library to retrieve newspapers and other helpful articles, because with the click of a button they have it right in front of them. To some, this sounds like a great revelation, however, in reality this is just promoting laziness for my generation.

Once students realize that they have accessed what they need, they simply don t read, just connect. Surf. Download. Cut and paste. (612). As indicated by Rothenberg students do not stop at just obtaining the research, they use the materials and turn them in as their own. I do not believe this entirely because I believe that many students have faced the hard consequences of plagiarism and have set an example for their schools. On the other hand, many students just paraphrase an article and wha-la, their work is done, and with slim to no effort.

For many the Internet serves as a reference tool and communication super highway. However, for students in my generation, who were brought up in the hype of the Internet, it is just another tool to help them get through life with a little less effort. Using the easily accessed Internet, students are only being encouraged to become only that much lazier.