The birth of the Internet followed the invention of the computer, a product of World War II: a scientific war that resulted in many research and technical developments (Campbell-Kelly, Aspray, Ensmenger & Yost, 2018, p. 65). As a reaction to the Soviet Union launching the Sputnik I into space, the ‘Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET)’ was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense to be used for communication purposes during the Cold War (Cantoni & Tardini, 2006, p. 26). Protocols were soon developed to create a global network by interconnecting different types of networks; this was known as ‘internetworking’, the term from which the word ‘Internet’ is derived.

 

As the potentials for communication were realized, electronic computers soon became implemented for use in educational institutions, hospitals, and NASA. However, it was the publicization of the Internet for commercial use that revolutionized and sparked the rapid development of educational technologies. The World Wide Web (WWW) was developed by English scientist Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 to be a storage space and consulting tool for documents and informational resources (Cantoni & Tardini, 2006, p. 29). These pages were able to be interlinked by hypertext links, which enabled users to navigate web pages in a non-linear fashion. These combined developments facilitating the growth and dissemination of knowledge in a globally accessible space has led to widespread contribution of information and data to the general public, in what is now known as the Information age.
 

Within educational sectors, spread of Internet usage has had many benefits and consequences. Students and teachers can freely research information online. Educators are also able to share ideas, resources, and collaborate with peers globally. Likewise, with instant messaging, video call technologies, and learning management systems, online classes can be delivered without people being present in a physical classroom. However, there are also many negative consequences. Students may feel alone and disconnected in online classes. Technology is also evolving at such an extreme rate that institutions are pressured to constantly upgrade, repair, and replace software and devices, which is extremely costly.

Additionally, the Internet has also perpetuated what Engell and O’Donnell refer to as the “dissemination of trash” (1999). While useful knowledge is easily shared, so is unvetted, false, and useless information. This makes it difficult for students to find reliable sources when researching. The popularization of video games, YouTube, and social media proliferated by personal devices (laptops and cellphones), has shown correlation to decreased student attention span (specifically, an increase in cases of ADHD) due to the high volume of information being processed on a daily basis, as well as cases of anxiety, depression and addiction (DeWeese, 2014, p. 42).