News & Views
My mind's made up, don't confuse me with the facts, especially as I can use a search engine
By Terry Freedman
Thu, 4 Dec 2008, 13:26

Should we bother to teach kids any facts? Don Tapscott think not, saying that all we need to do is ensure that they can use Google. It's an attractive argument, spoilt only by the fact that it's wrong...

Tapscott's statement was reported in the London Lite newspaper. I have to say I was surprised, given that one of the frontpage headlines yesterday was something about the devastating fact that Britney Spears had been caught miming in concert. Unfortunately, I can't find the London Lite report online, but here's the Evening Standard's take on it, with reader comments, which are themselves very interesting.

It's a tempting argument, of course. I myself tend not to bother to commit most facts to memory because I either have what I need documented, or bookmarked, or I know where to find it. However, it's ridiculous to say that we don't need to teach kids facts such as the Battle of Hastings took place in 1066 as long as they know how to search Google. This is the same sort of argument as the one that goes:

"Kids don't need to be able to do mental arithmetic because they can use a calculator."

The basic fact of the matter is this: any kind of aid is only any good if you have enough knowledge and understanding to be able to evaluate the results it gives you. I could put up a website that states that the Battle of Hastings took place in 1566 or that it didn't take place at all. Without some facts to start with, what benchmark would someone use to be able to evaluate such statements?

Similarly with mental arithmetic. Without some facility for calculation, how would you know if the results on the calculator were accurate? How would you know, for example, that the answer should have been 20% as opposed to 200% or 2%, unless you knew how to estimate what it ought to be?

Even if you decide that being able to search the internet is all anyone needs, we do have a duty to go a bit further and insist that young people be taught how to search properly, how to use the advanced facilities in a search engine, and how to triangulate (cross-reference) the results they obtain.

The point is, nothing happens or exists without there being a wider context. The issue is not whether someone can use a search engine; the issue is whether they know how to question and evaluate what it tells them.

© Terry Freedman Thu, 4 Dec 2008