Does the Internet make you stupid? and "The Future of the Internet IV." From Intute blog
Posted by Celia Walter | 24 Feb, 2010Last week saw the launch of the latest Pew Internet and American Life report.[The Future of the Internet IV] Based on a survey of nearly 900 users it considers questions such as will the Internet enhance writing skills, will there be more control over access to information. Incidentally in answer to the question over 80% felt the Internet had the potential to enhance intelligence.
This is something Intute staff tend to agree with here are some personal selections of ways in which the Internet has improved access to educational content.
YouTube has many channels maintained by organisations which provide free access to interviews and promotional materials. The YouTube politics section has materials from the main political parties. More useful examples of YouTube materials can be browsed on Intute
But YouTube is not the only online moving image service. One we recommend is the ResearchChannel. ResearchChannel was founded in 1996 by a consortium of leading American research and academic institutions. It aims to provide videos and webcasts of academic events, lectures and debates covering all areas of the sciences, humanities and social sciences. Contirbutors include John Hopkins Univeristy, the Library of Congress and University of Washington. For more similar examples see the LSE Library bookmarks (via Delicious)
Another key resource are online lectures and courses. Examples include Online Yale and OpenLearn courses from the Open University. If you are interested in finding out more about these Open Course Ware initiatives a good directory and alerting service is at OER Commons
Finally another good starting point for tracing high quality Internet sites is Open Culture. Check out its lists of cultural sites online, including good video language courses and books.