Blog Posts by Subject: Internet

2008. Did your anxiety rise that year? That was the year Google measured 1 trillion unique websites spewing out information to you. I know my mind cannot begin to comprehend what the size means. I, like everyone else, want information, free information, but having more information than I can get a handle on is overwhelming. That’s where the anxiety comes in. Our brains simply are not designed to grasp the magnitude of information at our disposal and navigate the data. 

Like a repeated news ticker, once again Facebook  is in the news. As a high player in the social media marketplace, it comes as no surprise that Facebook would lead headlines, but unlike Twitter , who caught media attention for reaching a record of 5 billion  tweets last week, Facebook's latest news round is not so glamorous. It does boil down, however, to the fact that social media is a marketplace.

Jose, a Teen Central alum, and friend Jennie volunteer their time and share their computer expertise at Jefferson Market.

Roberta loves poetry and volunteering at Jefferson Market.  Her favorite color is...

Rachel isn't afraid of computers, thanks to her incredible tenacity and the helpful staff at the 58th Street Library.

William Shakespeare is one of the world's most famous poets and playwrights. However, when students find out they have to read one of his plays or sonnets a huge question mark (?) appears in their heads. The New York Public Library has databases that will help your students get through the Shakespearen confusion.

To help demontrate how to research I chose Macbeth as a topic. Personally, Macbeth is my favorite. Lady Macbeth rocks!

Try these databases:

   

Many of us, use google for everything. We look up addresses, movie times, weather, admit it you know you have typed in your name too. In any case, google has become a search strategy, but many of us do not use all of the incredible features it has to offer.

How to do a basic google search?

-Always put your search terms in "quotation marks". This will allow google to search the words as a phrase.

-When specifying your search use "+" to include another topic in your search OR use "-" to exclude a topic from your search.

-You can also specify what 

Now we all have heard horrific stories about sexual predators preying on our kids online. Facts like this make it scary for parents and teachers to feel comfortable with social networking sites. It's extremely important and our responsibility as adults to provide safety measures to kids when using the internet.

Ask questions (find out what the kids are doing online and confirm if they are telling the truth) View their profile page (make sure personal information or provocative pictures are not posted on the child's webpage) Inform them that not 

Would you like to learn more about computers, but don’t know where to start? Thanks to some dedicated volunteers, the 125th Street Library now offers FREE individual computer tutoring/computer help.

If you know nothing about computers but want to learn, are curious about social networking, need help filling out an online form, or want to learn about a specific computer program, these tutors are here to help. You can sign up for a free hour-long session by calling: (212) 534-5050, or stopping by the 125th Street Branch at 224 

Marc Prensky coined the term digital natives to describe those born after the advent of digital technology, circa 1980. He posits that they differ fundamentally from those who came before. To carry the natives analogy a bit further, Prensky suggests that even if we digital immigrants learn the language, we will always have an accent.

Lark Birdsong calls many adults older than 50 technological outliers—“people at the end of the curve