>Kids are being taught search engine queries as 'research', and rightly so. What they're not taught is how to understand what they find. The articles are cut and paste and turned in as a 'report' (Satisfying the requirement that 2 web-searches and a multimedia source were used) The problem is that so much more information is delivered so fast, that noone has time for the depth of understanding that was a requirement to be a professional just 10 years ago.

Not always - the 14-yr old next door uses my internet connection for his schoolwork, and his latest assignments were exactly what you want: Research 3 or more sources for data and then compare the results of the search. Emphasis on how to tell what was good data and how to look for the 'sources behind your search'. The topic and the actual data found were definitely a minor part of this project.


> How many of Amazon.com's books would you consider a work of art? Programming is no longer a career in itself, it is a means to an entirely different end.

Not a fair comparison. Theodore Sturgeon said quite rightly "90% of everything is garbage" (slightly paraphrased), and you won't find a better percentage in your local bookstore than you do on Amazon.com, nor would you have found a better deal 20 years ago.