Berners-Lee Says Internet Will Make Kids Creative

ErikPeterson submitted a story where Tim Berners-Lee (if you need explanation, you're reading the wrong site) is interviewed about how on-line life will make our children more creative than us. He makes various points and predictions about what the internet will do.

Comments

Presentation

[Big Nothing]

For those unfamiliar with Tim Berners-Lee, he is the Director of the World Wide Web Consortium.

Re:Presentation

[Uukrul]

Mod parent up.

What do you think is better:

a) Slashdot teenager style:
Tim Berners-Lee (if you need explanation, you're reading the wrong site) is interviewed

b) Profesional looking style:
Tim Berners-Lee is interviewed.

It's your choice.

Re:You want a hyphen?

[ShieldW0lf]

The internet will reduce the value of a good long-term memory significantly, because you can always look things up, and it will increase the value of being a quick study dramatically. Those who can learn a new task on demand via the internet, use it, and move on to something new will be more successful than those who need to spend a long time learning. Specialization will become a lot less common, but will be a lot more valuable for those areas where it exists and is necessary.

I disagree.

[CyricZ]

Take a peek at the GameFAQs.com forums. They are frequented by youth and young adults. Notice the terrible grammar, horrible spelling, and the inability of many posters there to post coherent, sensible content. Whether this is caused by a lack of proper education, or whether it is just the nature of message boards, is questionable.

Personally, I would never let my children or grandchildren post at the GameFAQs forums without proper supervision. It's not about protecting them from the content there, but more the presentation of the content. I support creativity, and to be truly expressive requires intelligence and at least the ability to read and write with clarity and correctness.

All a child will learn at GameFAQs is how to type and compose written works very poorly. While the Internet can help children become very creative, it can also lead them to become lazy in their communication habits. Frankly, I'd be adverse to letting a child, or even a teen, post frequently at forums like those at GameFAQs, just because of how their creativity could be negatively affected.