Misunderstanding the internet, by James Curran, Natalie Fenton and Des Freedman, London, Routledge

In an era when the only thing developing faster than the internet is the tendency for technological determinism, Curran, Fenton and Freedman challenge readers to realise that “society exerts, in general, a greater influence on the internet than the other way around” (p. 76). In this second edition of Misunderstanding the internet, the authors update their work of 2012 and call for greater reflection as to what role we should assign this powerful digital medium. Nowhere is this reflection perhaps more important than in modern classrooms. Indeed, elsewhere the internet has been credited with revolutionising education, changing what it means to be knowledgeable and with permanently altering traditional roles of teacher and student. This book serves to challenge such naive assumptions. If teachers and students are to truly understand the internet, and therefore benefit from it, the authors would contend, they must see the technology, albeit spectacular, as one reflecting wider social agendas.