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Internet use on the cusp of the 21st century
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Article: Internet use on the cusp of the 21st century (PDF)
Objectives
- To examine the ways that people of different ages use the Internet.
- To assess the value of the Internet as a communication tool for different groups of people.
- To discuss the costs and benefits of Internet reliance.
Method
- Discuss the concept of "social isolation" and try to reach a consensus about its meaning.
- Was the same kind of alarm about diminished social contact and disrupted family life raised when television became common in the 1950s and 1960s? What other communication technologies have sparked the same kind of concerns as the Internet?
- How can the Internet help to prevent social isolation?
- Older Canadians seem reluctant to use the Internet. With governments and other service providers putting more and more information online, older people who are not using the Net seem to run a real risk of losing access to valuable information and services. What do you think can be done to encourage older people to go online?
- Please see lesson plans for Information and Communications Technology for more Internet-based classroom ideas.
Please e-mail comments or examples of how you used this exercise in your class.
