Notes on Note Form Summary

Notice that the sentences highlighted are the topic sentences of each paragraph. By reading these alone you can see that they give you an outline of what the

article is about.

Sample Task 3

Read the article on the increasing use of the Internet and answer all of the questions which follow.

The Net: our new addiction

There is no doubt that the Internet has the ability to connect any user with any other user and this has had a significant impact on human communication. By using email, connecting with family and friends who are far away geographically is cheaper and certainly easier than telephoning or writing letters. Using a combination of the World Wide Web, chat software, email, bulletin boards and discussion groups, individuals have more access to information than ever before and minority groups which may have been ignored by traditional media have come together online to share information, support each other and organise events. Children use the new technology to do what they have always done: play, learn, communicate and even form relationships. Many people argue that children’s mental and emotional development can be enhanced via the interactive medium of the Internet. Moreover, the Internet makes geographical barriers non-existent and so the idea of the world being a global village has become a reality.

Is Internet usage really growing at a rapid rate? It certainly is. Five years ago it was estimated that there were approximately 150,000,000 people online worldwide. The rate of increase then was something like 12% each month. By 2002 there were an estimated 619,000,000 users online. One estimate for 2004—next year—is 940,000,000 or about one person in seven. Obviously there are several billion people in undeveloped regions of the world who have no access to or knowledge of the Net. This means that children and adults in developed countries live, increasingly, in an interactive, online environment.

However, critics of the Internet believe that Internet use, while connecting more people virtually, can make some people more isolated socially because the more time they spend online, the less time they spend interacting in real life. These critics believe that electronic communication is not as ‘personal’ and not as rewarding as face-to-face or voice-to-voice communication. Consequently, heavy users of the Net find that their social circles become smaller and some users even find that they feel more depressed as a result of this isolation.

A 1998 study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University concluded that Internet use leads to small but worrying increases in misery and loneliness and a decline in overall psychological well-being. The HomeNet project studied a sample of 169 people in Pittsburg during their first year or two online. Data showed that as these people used the Internet more, they stayed in contact with fewer friends. They also spent less time talking with their families, experienced more daily stress and felt more lonely and depressed. Strangely, these results occurred even though interpersonal communication was people’s most important reason for using the Net.

At one New York university the dropout rate among first-year students increased dramatically as their Internet access increased. The reason? 43% of the dropouts were staying up all night online instead of applying themselves to their studies. These students’ ‘cyberlives’ prevented them from managing their time and meeting their responsibilities as students.

We now have a name to describe some of the problems associated with excessive Net use: IAD - Internet Addiction Disorder. Based on criteria which psychologists often use in identifying types of

addiction, online surveys estimate the incidence of addictive patterns of behaviour to be as high as 80%. In other words, up to 80% of Net users feel that they risk becoming addicted to using the Net. Identified symptoms of IAD include: (a) using the Net for pleasure, gratification or relief from stress; (b) feeling irritable, frustrated and bored when not using it; (c) spending increasing amounts of both time and money on hardware, software, magazines, and computer-related activities; and (d) neglecting work, school and family responsibilities. According to Maressa Hecht Orzack, director of computer-addiction services at Harvard Medical School, the problem is caused not by the computer, nor by the Net, but by Net-users. She says that they use the computer ‘as a tool to evade, procrastinate and escape’ and that ‘among the most vulnerable are children who are lonely and bored or from families where nobody is at home to relate to after school.’

Other surveys have concluded that the majority of parents in households with computers fear the Net's influence on children, who do not always understand the possible dangers of interactivity. More than ever before children have access to information, views and images which until now have really only been available to adults. Apart from sexually explicit websites, online shopping via credit cards, gambling games, spam email and violent images are now a potential part of a child’s online life.

The movie, The Net, shows people whose only friends are online buddies, whose real names are not even known. Some people fear that in cyberspace social relationships are not based on reality, but on the user’s fantasies about the people they are communicating with and that anonymous interactions can be untruthful, unreliable and even potentially dangerous. Nowadays, a person in a relationship is able to have ‘cyberaffairs’ with anonymous strangers. While a physical relationship might not result, is this a sign of a healthy society?

The Internet is certainly attractive because of the research and communicative possibilities it gives us. As society rapidly approaches full Internet integration, however, it is important that we consider the consequences of being connected virtually, and whether it is worth the risk of becoming disconnected physically and psychologically.

Questions

Answer all questions in your own wordsUse note form for Question 1.Use complete sentences for all other questions.

1. In notes, summarise the main problems excessive Internet use can cause. (10 marks)

Topic Sentences:1. internet has a significant impact on today’s communication X2. rapid growth of the internet X3. social isolation 4. decline in psychological well-being5. negative effects on study 6. addictive potential of the internet7. the net’s negative effect on children8. anonymity of on-line friends9. communicative and research benefits X

As you can see by summarising the key points in the topic sentences you already have a guide as to what sub-headings you may be able to use in a noteform summary.

As you can see above, all but the three which have red crosses are information that is about the problems of excessive internet use.

And then seeing below you can see that the sub-headings chosen correlate (match) pretty well with the key ideas in the topic sentences from the list above.

Sample Task 3: Excessive internet use

In notes, summarise the main problems excessive Internet use can cause. – key words highlighted

Problems caused by excessive Internet use

main subheadings are highlighted

increases social isolation more time online -> less time communicating face-to-face electronic communication impersonal

negative impact on relationships smaller social circles

general decline in psychological well-being encourages depression IAD increases loneliness/misery

encourages users to manage time less effectively studies – poor time-management -> increased dropout rate at uni work -> not fulfilling duties ignoring family responsibilities

potential impact on children pornography gambling online shopping

could encourage some to become more detached from reality fantasy-based/anonymous relationships

can be untruthful/unreliable/potentially dangerous

Relationship of idea in subheading to sub-points

reason why/explanation another reasono consequenceo another consequence

for example – being specific consequence further specific example

consequence consequence consequence

example example example

explanationo further explanation

As you can see from the table above each of the sub-points bear a particular relationship to the more general idea expressed in the sub-heading the unfilled in dot points are a sub-point to the sub-point. This way you can show the relationship of ideas to one another.

Another possible relationship of sub-points to sub-headings are statistics