Summary:
“The Web is a tool for communication. Let’s use the web to create neat new exciting things. Let’s use the Web to help people understand each other.”

For the Link Click HERE

This article which Tim-Berners-Lee has written to assist young children in their projects suggests that the main use of the internet is a form of communicating with others sharing knowledge and using it to create new ideas that will bring people closer together. This socially constructed environment was even fabricated within the means of people working together using existing ideas to make a better one.   In relation to this I find that children who are able to use  not just computers but group work to build on each other’s ideas  is an important skill they need when developing into young adults and is something which clearly can be assisted through the aid of technology.

As well as this Burner-lee also states that the internet can be both “good and evil” and it’s what we make of it that decides this for us. Again this is also a powerful message to send young children and that while there are many different opportunities to explore on the web, it is up to you what you make of it. This is a similar stance to working within the curriculum and computing. While the curriculum for computing is limited in resources and approaches, those who know how to manipulate these and bring in their own creative ideas, are those that succeed within their lesson, an important objective that can pursue to children.

Whist on placement it came to my attention that the use of computer or any device were somewhat banned from the classroom, as a result of this when planning an activity with bee-bots, these children were excited to see something new so I left them to explore with them to see what they could do, eventually I was able to set up an activity with them as they had an understanding of the basic controls.  While this doesn’t directly link to the web, I think it is relevant that if children had been aware of the full potential of the bee-bots they would be able to develop further.

My own personal experience with the internet has taken me all over the web for array of different reasons…

Computing GCSE/ A level: During my secondary school experience I decided to take ICT from GCSE to the end of A levels. As a result of this I used the internet to create websites and databases. Due to this I learned an array of skills such as HTML and CSS, something that would not have been able to do. The internet aided my approach to these in many ways through videos on how to solve problems through to chat rooms where I could post pictures of code and ask others for advice. These skills are something that are transferable to children and through my experiences I am more aware of how children are able to the internet to aid themselves in an educational way.

Personal Use:  personally, I use the internet for social means to communicate with others as Burner lee describes his reason for creating the web. But also as a means to develop both my personal education and academic. Regarding my personal educational use this can range from finding a recipe online to teaching myself the piano.  These are all skills that I have decided to pursue on my own personal interests through aid of the internet. This is something that children should understand the full potential of the internet and understand that it is not limited or refined to social Medias or academic resources. This is also something that is started within the national curriculum “are responsible, competent, confident and creative users of information and communication technology”(NC,2014,p1)