In his essay, “A Personal Cyberinfrastructure”, Gardner Campbell raises the point that most students know how to make use of the internet, but are not aware of how it truly works. Myself included, I feel that this lack of how the web really works does cripple us as a generation. I have been using the Internet since I was the age of ten yet I find myself unknowledgeable on key concepts of web design. I know relatively little about HTML despite having several social networking accounts, such as Myspace, which allow you to edit your profile in HTML format. I agree with Campbell in the regard that this digital illiteracy stunts innovation and design for the internet as it stands.

I also agree that changing the format of education and the web would help immensely to allow students and teachers to get more out of the learning experience. I once took an online course, and the only interaction I had with my professor was turning in assignments and due dates. All professors do not have such a minimal approach, but in my case, I pretty much took nothing away from the class and forgot the subject entirely. I think that changing the way education is implemented online by creating a forum in which students have far more interaction would be invaluable.

Requiring students to purchase a domain name and web hosting the way we have would definitely be a step in the right direction. I really like his philosophy as a way of leveling the playing field for web development and innovation. I feel rather enlightened by Campbell’s essay and his lecture. I’m convinced that this is a major step in the right direction for me and it comes at the right time.