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A QUESTION WAS posted on AskReddit: If someone from the 1950s suddenly appeared today, what would be the most difficult thing to explain to them about life today? Among the hundreds of responses, this one stood out: "I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man. I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers" (http://as.reddit.eom/r/ AskReddit/comments/15yaap/if_someone_from_ the_ 195 Os_suddenly_appeared_today/).
Isn't it the truth! We modern users of technology take this miracle for granted. We have accepted the ability to access information 24/7. If we want to know something, we simply Google it right on the spot. We pull out our smart phones or sit at any computer, type in a search word, select a link, and immediately have the answer. But it isn't quite that simple. We don't just click on any link in the search results. We have learned to be selective about which websites we choose to open. We have learned that some webpages take forever to load, some may be virusladen, some are heavy with flashing ads and pop-ups, and some have strange and unfamiliar URLs. We carefully scroll down the endless list of websites to find one that is "click-worthy."
How did we develop our strategies for searching the Internet? Most likely we wasted away hours of precious time opening websites one by one and learned by trial and error to locate the good ones. With experience, now we can evaluate the list and select a website without much wasted effort. Is this thought process something that we can teach to our elementary age...