How the Internet Enhances Learning

Most kids go to school, but how many of them really learn? Yes, they’re taught in class, they’re attentive, they do their homework, they’re up to date on their assignments, and they study diligently for the exams and end up acing them. But then, have they really learnt anything? If you’re still scratching your head trying to understand the point I’m trying to make, then you don’t really know what an education is all about. To put it in a nutshell, education is about learning how to gather relevant knowledge as and when you need it, not about cramming what’s in your text books and vomiting it out during the exams. And today, gaining education is much easier because of technological tools like the Internet.

While it’s necessary to study what’s in your books to gain good grades, the learning that stands you in good stead throughout your life is the kind that teaches you how to learn more effectively and with the least amount of effort. To put it in simple terms, schools must teach you how to gain knowledge rather than try to cram a select sect of knowledge into your head. When learning is a way of life rather than something that we discontinue after we graduate from college, only then can we say that we are truly educated.

The Internet is a marvelous tool when it comes to fostering education and learning because it is a treasure trove of information. Children who take to the web for more than just entertainment are bound to find that their schoolwork becomes easier and exams simpler to prepare for and ace. And this is because:

» The web teaches you to find exactly the information you’re looking for.
» Because there are hundreds of thousands of sources, it teaches you to patiently search for the most authentic and believable sites and aggregate information accordingly.
» You have access to various tools that augment your learning efforts and make gathering knowledge a relatively easy affair.

On the downside, there is the fact that the web is a distracting place and that it’s so easy to get lost in its myriad corridors that lead to wasted time and dodgy acts. But then again, college dorms are distracting places too; but the student who really wants to study finds a quiet corner and avoids all forms of temptation in a tradeoff for good grades. The Internet too should be used wisely – absorb all you can of its goodness and advantages in order to enhance your knowledge, and steer clear of the side that wastes your time and leads to addictions and temptations that you can do without.

This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topic of online degree. She welcomes your comments at her email id: anna.miller009@gmail.com