The internet, and search engines such as Google, have become key educational tools for students.  For the “Google Generation”, it has become an immediate instinct to begin their research for an assignment by browsing the internet or typing in a quick Google search.  But is this immediate instinct to turn to the internet for all questions actually hindering students’ abilities to process and comprehend large amounts of information in order to gain knowledge on a topic? 

            The technology available today is allowing people all over the world to obtain the same information faster, easier, and more reliably.  A plethora of books and articles can be found online through digital libraries.  These online alternates to the traditional library promise users convenience and ease while providing the same content they would find in a physical copy of a book in a traditional library, but making the search process easier by eliminating excess material that they are not looking for.  According to Ian Rowland, “the philosophy of warehousing large book collections, “just-in-case-they’re needed”, is rapidly becoming redundant as users turn their backs on the library as a physical space” (293).  Digital libraries eliminate the time consuming act of searching through pages upon pages of large, information-filled text books and allow students to find exactly what they are looking for by taking them to the exact page that includes the information that they need.   Professor Bob Myers, an Associate in Computer Science at Florida State University, highlighted how online resources allow students to obtain all the information that is present at a physical library, but with the ease and convenience of never leaving their home. With new technologies like these, the process of gathering knowledge is becoming easier for students who have busy schedules and not a lot of time. 

            With the growth of digital information and education, the traditional face-to-face learning idea is not the only option for students.  Once considered a “second best” option to the traditional learning environment of a classroom, teacher, and students, online “distance” education has now become an excellent option for students who are not suited for or cannot be present in the typical learning environment (Westera, 19-20). Technology based learning is becoming part of all learning environments. Even classes being taught in traditional classrooms have “some type of online presence”, whether it be submitting homework through a link online or putting announcements on a class site (Myers).  Advancing technologies are providing students with interactive and mentally stimulating learning environments right through their computer screens.  Wim Westera, a Professor of Educational Media at Open University of the Netherlands, considers the technologies used to create these alternative learning environments educational media, which is “part of the shared class of inventions that support inter-human communications…” (20). These advancements, which are produced by people looking to create technologies that aid in the progression of society, can connect people on a much larger scale than ever before.

            Once a challenge before the age of technology, the implementation of educational media can now reach a much wider range of students in a quicker and more efficient way.  In recent years, the new digital technology being implemented has “removed many of the physical barriers” and allowed library services to blossom and reach students that are not physically on campus, providing them with all the resources that they would have if they were (Behr &Howard, 278).  Schools are providing students with online library databases, such as Florida State University’s very own lib.fsu.edu, which allow students to access all the information held in the physical school library without ever actually having to go there, searching through rows and rows of books, and then having to flip through page after page of information that is not relevant to them just to find the one thing that they are looking for. They are able to gather information by a quick Google search or an easy browse through their school’s online library database (Myers). This seems like an obvious transition, but issues can arise when students are using the internet as their only source of information gathering.

            Digital resources promote quickness and easy access, which is what students are now focusing on.  The quickest way to find an answer, gather research, or get an assignment done.  Though high-level productivity is valuable when working on something with a deadline, being too eager to find the quickest way possible to get something done can lead to problems.  As students no longer turn to librarians for help in locating reliable books to gather information, they run the risk of finding unreliable information.  The quickest and most convenient search results may not always be the most accurate.  Michele D. Buhr, an off campus librarian and associate Professor at Western Michigan University, and Julie L. Hayward, a resource sharing assistant at Western Michigan University, have extensively researched this topic and found that many students, though problematic, are generally using online resources for speed rather than accuracy, preferring to use information that “they can get with the least amount of effort and within the shortest possible time” (279).  Digital technology and resources are promoting the quickness and ease of finding information online, but they are also prompting students to not want to put in the effort to find reliable sources.  With how the web works today, anyone can be a “content creator” on the world wide web (Myers).  It’s the job of students to discern whether or not the information that they are gathering is valid or not (Myers).  But if a student is searching with the intent of speed rather than accuracy, they are losing the necessary mindset of skepticism when reviewing internet sources, thereby heightening the risk that the information a student is finding and using may not be trustworthy. 

            Digital technology and online resources have changed the way in which students learn and gather information, but libraries still provide integral resources for students.  They provide, reliable information on almost any topic and librarians who can help lead students in the right direction.  Though maybe not as quick and easy as finding a source on the internet, libraries provide students with incredible and trustworthy resources.  A study completed in 2013 in a small secondary school in England surveyed students by asking them to complete the sentence, “We need a library because..” (Shenton, 142-143).  Students completed the sentence with things like the library is “beneficial” and “very useful to everyone” (Shenton, 146).  Though there are limitations to this study since the children may have sensed that they should write something positive about libraries, each student was able to come up with a reason why a school library was a necessity for students and teachers.  Physical libraries provide a resources that digital library databases just cannot offer, human interaction.

            As these online resources continue to grow, so do the use of search engines, like Google.  Search engines can be used to quickly find what a student is looking for by simply typing a question or a few key words into a search bar and hitting enter.  Search engines provide easy and quick access to a plethora of knowledge.  Google, the most popular search engine, racks up an estimated 200 million searches logged daily (Leigh, Capozzi, Prusak).  Search engines promote efficiency as they bring users to the exact information that they need, but is that really promoting the explorative idea of learning through research?

            According to Ferris Jabr, a contributing writer for Scientific American and contributing editor for Scientific American Mind, evidence shows that e-readers, or reading off a screen, is not an equal alternative to traditional reading of words printed on paper.  Reports indicate that when using these modern devices to read they “fail to adequately recreate certain tactile experiences of reading on paper.”  Readers are losing the ability to navigate long texts and that inability can alter reading comprehension (Jabr).  The large amounts of information that can be found on the internet by googling a question can sometimes cause problems for readers.  We may be experiencing an information overload, which is combated by simplifying large amounts of information by compacting it to only a few short sentences (Wellmon, 66).  Though this form of information delivery may be less time consuming than searching through large amounts of information, by allowing a computer to do all the work and absorbing all the information, students may be losing the ability to comprehend and evaluate information to determine what is useful to them and what is not. The amount of information they find can be limited because the key words that a student uses to find the specific information they are looking for can limit the results they get and they can miss out on useful information that they may have not before considered (van Dijck,579). 

Students are no longer reading; they are browsing the internet to quickly find the piece of information necessary for them to answer a question, write a paper, or do well on a test (Oberdan, 465). A student’s immediate response to how they found their information these days can generally be expected to be “they ‘googled’ it” (van Dijck, 575). One of Googles most stellar attributes is its ability to take even the most confusing or vague internet searches and retrieve relevant information for internet browsers.  This incredible, user-friendly source of seemingly unlimited answers and information may benefit students in the short term, but it could have lasting effects on the way in which students compose searches on all data retrieving databases.  Students lack the basic skills of composing search questions for websites such as library databases that don’t work like Google because their immediate instinct is to turn to easily accessible search engines which require minimum effort and research (Creagh). The changing technology is providing students with a crutch (Myers).  Students don’t know how to properly use the technology they are working with.  They know how to type in a Google search and get the answer they are looking for on their computer, but many don’t know much beyond that due to the fact that, sometimes, when certain technologies become prevalent, it becomes “the way people do things”, and the older methods get lost and people begin “losing a little bit of that knowledge base” (Myers). This is what is happening with the search engines which are dominating education now-a-days.  Google is teaching students to find the answer they are looking for with little to no effort and not promoting students to have to search for what they need, and in the process absorbing relevant information that they otherwise may have missed. This kind of learning can be detrimental to students’ ability to mentally grow and expand their bank of knowledge because they are now switching to searching rather than reading.

            However, if looked at from a different perspective, search engines may be hailed as an incredible tool in the learning process and development of students.  Search engines have changed the way in which people receive and gather knowledge. They have “co-shaped what there is to know”, and changed the way that people learn and obtain the plethora of information that they provide (Sundin & Carlsson, 990).  The web, and search engines, have provided a wide range of people more knowledge than they could ever possibly need.  People all across the world can find the same information in a matter of seconds.  If students thoroughly evaluate the information that they are finding through search engines, they can quickly and easily obtain loads of knowledge that can be helpful for whatever academic endeavor they are completing.  Search engines promote efficiency and productivity by organizing information into one concise, easy to navigate format.  For the same reasons that search engines could be considered detrimental to education, they could also be considered incredible innovations that are changing education and the process of information gathering. 

            Whether it be a library, an online book, or Google, all can be proven to be useful and important resources for a student on whatever academic endeavor they are taking on.  Pros and cons for all information gathering sources can be found.  Technology promotes productivity, but libraries and traditional methods of education promote precision.  There will always be champions and opponents of progression, but technology will continue to evolve every day and will continue to be incorporated into the everyday lives of most people.  It is important to embrace it and all its incredible contributions to the world of education while still valuing and remembering the importance of traditional education practices.  So the question “Is the technology we have today hindering our education and negatively impacting the way students gather information?” cannot simply be reduced down to a measly yes or no answer.  It is a combination of answers that form the conclusion that both technology and traditional methods of learning are integral to the success of students as well as being key components in education.