The Impacts of the Information Age

“The Impact of the Information Age”

by

Brittany Benton

History 157, Section 6381

Professor Tamrala Swafford

Due February 2, 2014

Annotated Webliography: “The Impact of the Information Age”

Information compiled by Brittany Benton

1. Cox, Richard. "The Information Age and History: Looking Backward to See Us."

Accessed January 30, 2014.

http://ubiquity.acm.org/article.cfm?id=352537.

The article on this website discusses some of the impacts of the information age. The Information Age, also commonly known as the Computer Age or Information Era, is an idea that the current age will be characterized by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously. The idea is linked to the concept of a Digital Age or Digital Revolution, and carries the ramifications of a shift from traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based on the manipulation of information. The Information Age has allowed rapid global communications and networking to shape modern society.

Some of the impacts of the Information Age listed in this article are: the effects on the human brain; learning skills/abilities; jobs and income distribution; automation, productivity, and job loss; to name a few. Society is moving into a new era; an era of rapid change and inherent unpredictability driven by ongoing advancements in information and communication technology. This new era will impact upon every aspect of society.

The article discusses why citizens of the information age will need different kinds of skills to those that served them in the industrial age. They will need to be managers of their own destiny. They will need to find relevant information from the morass of freely available data. They will need to interpret and evaluate what they find. They will need to adapt to ever-changing conditions; and they will need to learn throughout their lives. Traditional behaviorist approaches to education will no longer be sufficient in the industrial age. Education will need to adopt constructivist principles to empower learners through an individualized and active learning experience. However, constantly improving technology can provide exciting new ways of delivering that learning.

This site is related to my topic because it discusses several different impacts of the Information Age, the pros