Adult Education has become a scary subject to many. The questions and concerns immediately surface at the thought of returning to school. “How will I afford this?” “Will I have enough time for school along with my family and working full time?” Last but not least “Who is going to teach me how to use the new technology that kids are obsessed with these days?” Technology has literally taken over the education system today. Kindergarten students have iPads provided by the school, high school and college students are turning every single homework assignment in online and students are texting and emailing their teacher and professors instead of using the telephone to call them. With the media being completely focused around technology it is easy to look at technology as a bad thing. A sly little tool to keep children quiet and distracted, keeping them from enjoying the outdoors and natural surroundings. All of that may be true, but what kind of tool is technology in the education system. Is it a helpful tool for young and adult students, or is it making us dumb?
Nicholas Carr wrote an article named “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” In this article, Carr describes the way he perceives the internet. Carr speculates the idea that perhaps the internet has made him a poor reader and collects opinions from his colleagues and friends that support this idea. Carr states; “Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, being looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle.” Carr