Description
Before Google, Siri, and Alexa, there were librarians; if you wanted accurate information you
would have to leave the comfort of your own home and head to your local public library. In New
York, it is still possible to inquire with a librarian who uses the phone, Internet chat, email, text,
or snail mail to answer research and reference questions. However, this is an outdated and timeconsuming practice. The year 2007 changed how we ask, receive, and view information forever;
it was the year the iPhone was introduced to the world. Personal devices were soon in the hands
of people young and old, allowing them to search for anything within seconds. Technology is
playing a larger role in our lives every day. In 2009, the Pew Research Center revealed 93% of
youth aged 12 to 17 are online, and 71% have a cell phone (Jones, 2009). Ten years later, Pew
conducted another survey which shows 81% of Americans say they use the Internet daily. The
interconnectedness of the Internet has opened our world to endless information moving at speeds
we cannot fathom. Every day we work, socialize, shop, read, watch, learn, and connect through
digital space, which is far beyond traditional media such as television, newspapers, magazines,
and radio. Until the mid-2000s we would get the majority of our information from print sources
like newspapers. Today, digital technology is embedded in our daily lives and these changes
have profoundly affected us. In this paper I will discuss the history of the Internet, the effects of
the Internet, teaching media literacy for a democratic society, and the growing concerns about ewaste.
