So much so that now even prestigious universities offer free online lectures and courses, which are open to everyone. The outreach of the Internet globally has even made it possible for retired teachers to educate children in poorer countries. With the advent of Internet the ease with which you can gain knowledge by accessing whatever you desire and that too, to a much broader range of people than ever before, is phenomenal.
Educational Tool
The advantage of using the Internet as an educational tool is that students have access to extra resources and material such as interactive lessons and educational games. These days many lessons can be conducted online, called a "hybrid" model, which doesn’t require a student to go to class as often as traditional classes. That’s a great saving for students who are always on a budget. It eliminates the need to commute to and from campus loaded with heavy textbooks every day. The other great advantage is that you can take your tests, do your homework, collaborate with other students and do almost all your research online on any computer with Internet access. The Internet is even an invaluable tool in addition to normal studies in traditional classes. Need to do some research? No problem. Just log on!
Wealth of Knowledge
There’s a wealth of knowledge on the Internet – all at your fingertips! All you have to do is type in the keyword and all information becomes available instantly upon your search. This ease of access to information has led the Internet to supersede libraries as a go-to source for information gathering and research. If students are given assignments and need to study at home they can visit specific websites and online encyclopedias to provide masses of knowledge on any topic imaginable. The variety of sources the student has at his or her fingertips helps them to pursue subjects in much greater detail as opposed to work the teacher sends home with them.
Communications Tool
Another plus about the Internet is its use as a communications tool. If a student has forgotten his or her work, missed a lecture or couldn't remember an assignment with the Internet they can connect instantaneously to their classmates and teachers to find out what they’ve missed without having to stay after class. Not only that, students working with their peers on projects and who weren’t able to attend a class or lecture in person makes for greater efficiency greater efficiency when everyone cannot attend or need clarification on something that is unclear. For instance, with ATT uverse offers you can connect with their High Speed Internet while streaming your favorite content. Get AT&T Internet with over 99% uptime for a connection you can count on. With access to national AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots at no additional charge, you can’t go wrong!
Accessibility to Free Online Courses
There are a lot of courses that are offered online for free. Harvard, Yale and Stanford offer free courses on a variety of subjects accessible to anyone for free. You can watch these as lectures on video with even notes attached. The advantage? Ease of access to plenty of free lectures without breaking your bank to pay tuition fee. And what about poor communities? The beauty of this medium is that it has made education accessible to impoverished communities wherever Internet is available. A classic example, the "Granny Cloud”. This was a project where a number of volunteers, mostly retired teachers, read stories aloud over Skype to children in India to teach them how to read. Ingenious!
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