A tape cassette?... What's that?

This is one of the many questions one might ask if born in the 2000's. Specifically, by an individual who has never lived without the internet! Today, the internet is everywhere...literally. We cannot escape it! Whether it be on your iPhone, your tablet, or your laptop, it is everywhere and seems as though we are never and will never have to be without it. More important, it is quickly influencing and shaping today's society more so than ever before.

As far as knowledge building goes... well that's easy. One word: Google! Google is the largest search engine out there. In fact, it is frequently used as a verb when wanting to know something out of the ordinary or something you just can't put your finger on. In most cases like this, we just "google" it! Throughout my past few years as a university student, I constantly find myself wondering just what would we do without google.. what would we do without the internet? How did my parents make it through university without it? It appears that EVERYTHING can be found on the internet now a days. I specifically remember the first time I had to find an article out of an academic journal for a course I was taking. So of course, the apparent thing to do seemed to go to the library and look for it. So, I did just that. I went to the library and asked the reference desk for help. However, they were quick to send me to the computer lab  to look on a never ending database of articles! Just like that, by the click of the button, there was the article. 27 pages long and right at my finger tips in a matter of minutes. Over the past few years, my trips to the library have of course decreased for this very reason-- the internet. I can find what I want, where I want, when I want.

Writing this blog  and taking this online course couldn't be any more of an example. If it weren't for the internet, millions of students would not be able to take a course from another school or even get a whole degree right at home! But yet here we are, every day building our knowledge as we "google" facts, do an online quiz, or take an online exam. It is without a doubt that the knowledge of today's society is greatly influenced by and dependent on the internet.