Chaitram Ramphal

About the author: Chaitram Ramphal is a teacher's education student at York University in Toronto, Canada.

Education requires discussion between teachers and students. But computers and the Internet detract from such discussion. This disruption of the student-teacher relationship will cause students to become disinterested in education and to be confused about their place in society and about their future. Influenced by the Internet, learning will no longer be equated with understanding and knowledge, but rather with acquiring information. The Internet threatens to replace teachers as the focal point of education, but it cannot teach important values such as discipline, responsibility, and cooperation.

One can best open discussion of the effect of the Internet on education by referring to the judgement of Thamus. Imagine Theuth [Thamus and Theuth were Egyptian gods], having invented the Internet, showing it...