Tournament Topic #8: Computers are more beneficial to education than books.

Good afternoon. In today's case, I shall prove beyond the notion of a doubt that computers are more beneficial to education than books. Let us start by examining a few crucial definitions which I feel may present a problem in this debate (which are both provided by Merriam Webster's dictionary): Definition 1: Beneficial: 1 : conferring benefits : conducive to personal or social well-being 2 : receiving or entitling one to receive advantage, use, or benefit Definition 2: Education: 1 a: the action or process of educating or of being educated; also : a stage of such a process b: the knowledge and development resulting from an educational process 2: the field of study that deals mainly with methods of teaching and learning in schools. Observation: One must note that education isn't merely limited to schools; one can be educated without being involved with a formal institution. Furthermore, one is being educated when they are inheriting knowledge and developing mentally (as suggested by the definition). Any action which causes individuals to inherit knowledge and develop mentally is to be considered education during this debate. Onto to my arguments: CONTENTION 1) COMPUTERS HAVE THE INTERNET: a) Research: With it, students (or people who just wish to educate themselves) have been able to speedily gather information they wanted at their own leisure; one merely needs type in a brief description of the information (on a search engine or online database) which they need and in no time, they will have access to it. It is far more time consuming to go to a physical library, look for books that may POSSIBLY help out in research, and spend hours searching for pieces of information inside the countless pages of books. Clearly, when comparing both methods of research, one has the bigger advantage in using the Internet via computer. b) Interactivity: When using the Internet via computer, one has the ability to educate themselves by carrying out thought provoking discussions/debates with other individuals. This website is proof of that. Furthermore, online/offline games such as online/offline chess and checkers serve as means of developing oneself mentally as well as giving one knowledge of how to think tactically, hence are a means of education. This is yet another advantage which computers have other books as actions like these cannot even be performed via books. c) Films: Through using the Internet, one has the ability to watch entire films, as well as listen to radio clips. This is highly beneficial as there are many education films and radio clips. In fact, many of these are difficult to locate in the physical world, much less impossible to locate inside a book. Once more, a clear advantage which makes computers more beneficial to education than books. d) Updates: Whereas books can have their information updated every year or decade, Internet authors don't have to go through all the trouble of publishing and such and can update their information instantly. Thus, there is the potential for more accurate information when using the Internet via computer. e) Institutionalized classes (especially for colleges) can be taught via Internet, via computer. Many education institutions have classes that are strictly conducted through the Internet. This way, students who cannot afford to make it to the physical classes at the usual scheduled times or individuals who are disabled have a much easier time at attending class and being educated. Not that it needs to be said, but books possess no such advantage. Basically, the Internet provides significant advantages which books cannot even come close to reproducing or competing with when it comes to education. CONTENTION 2) COMPUTERS CAN STORE MORE INFORMATION THAN BOOKS: Whereas it may seem long for a book to possess thousands of pages, one computer has access to (and can hold) an exponential amount of information (in comparison). In fact, with the Internet, one computer can be more beneficial than one billion books combined. CONTENTION 3) DVD CAPABILITIES: One can purchase educational DVDs and watch them on their computer. This differs from previous film point as I was referring to films which had to be found on the Internet. In any case, yet another advantage which computers have over books when it comes to education. CONTENTION 4) CALCULATOR FUNCTIONS: Most computers come with Calculator software. As real world calculators benefit math students and mathematicians through making it easier and less time consuming to solve complex equations, computer calculators can do the same. Once more, and advantage which one doesn't have with a book. CONTENTION 5) WORD PROCESSOR: Through using a computer, one can work on their writing skills (hence educate themselves) a seemingly infinite number of times through using a word processor (whether it be Word pad, notepad, Microsoft word, etc). This can also benefit students who need to type out essays. Can this be done through a book? Of course not. For these reasons, a computer is obviously more beneficial to education than a book is (especially when it comes to self-education). We must note that although books were great educational tools of the past, they are (for the most post) vastly outdated when compared to the educational capabilities of a computer. Of course, there are more advantages which a computer has over a book, but I feel no need to mention them (not just because I've listed the primary advantages) as I guarantee you that my opponent will unknowingly end up exposing these other advantages when he presents his case. I now stand ready for CON's case/rebuttal.