clipped from: www.timesonline.co.uk   

Google generation has no need for rote learning

The Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo
Memorising facts and figures is a waste of time for most schoolchildren because such information is readily available a mere mouse click away
The existence of Google, Wikipedia and online libraries means that there is no useful place in school for old-fashioned rote learning
A far better approach would be to teach children to think creatively so that they could learn to interpret and apply the knowledge available online
“Teachers are no longer the fountain of knowledge; the internet is,”
“Kids should learn about history to understand the world and why things are the way they are. But they don’t need to know all the dates
Tapscott denies that his approach is anti-learning
the ability to learn new things is more important than ever “in a world where you have to process new information at lightning speed
Children are going to have to reinvent their knowledge base multiple times. So for them memorising facts and figures is a waste of time