Internet myths

[Timothy Wilson <wilson@visi.com>]

Hey everyone,

I've been teaching Community Education classes through my school district
lately. (Decent money, little preparation) I'm just finishing an "Intro to
Win95" class and will be starting a class about using the Internet next
week. (I'm going to post some observations about the current class I'm
teaching RSN. I think it's relevant to the discussions about using Linux
with "regular" users.)

Anyway, I was thinking that it might be interesting to begin my Internet
class by discussing some of the more prevalent myths or misconceptions
associated with the Internet itself or using the Internet. Many of the
people in the class will be ultra-newbies. We really have to start at the
basics.

Help me think of a good list. Here's a couple:

1. Internet == WWW

2. You can get computer viruses by reading email messages. (General
discussion of computer virii would follow.)

3. Making Web pages is difficult. (The idea that follows is that if it's on
a Web page, then whoever made it must be an expert and can be trusted.)

4. Buying something online is more dangerous than "traditional" uses of a
credit card.

Well, that's a starter list. Can anyone add to it? Please feel free to
disagree with me.

-Tim

--
Tim Wilson      | Visit Sibley online:         | Check out:
Henry Sibley HS | http://www.isd197.k12.mn.us/ | http://www.zope.org/
W. St. Paul, MN |                              | http://slashdot.org/
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