Internet technology has created massive ripples in every walk of life. It has transformed our lifestyle and how we interact with the world. This has happened over the years as humanity figured out the countless applications of the internet. Apart from that, the internet itself is a remarkably adaptable technology that can seamlessly integrate into different aspects of life in order to make them better. The internet has also been a major driving force behind many new technologies that we use in our daily lives. So, in a sense, it is not only a technological marvel itself but has also been a catalyst behind major discoveries of today’s world. Due to these and many other reasons, the internet has received a huge fan-following so much so that almost 4.66 billion people are actively using the internet, which is more than half of the world’s population.
This huge fan-following enjoyed by the internet stems from a few key factors. The first major factor is cost. The internet was an expensive service back in the day, limited to only a few groups, but as the features and benefits of the internet came to light and the global infrastructure grew, it ultimately resulted in the reduction of internet prices, and today the internet has become cost-effective, which you can check by visiting https://www.localcabledeals.com/Spectrum/Deals. The next thing is the increase of the global footprint of the internet. In the beginning, internet access was limited to certain areas in the form of segregated networks, but over time, these networks combined to make our current web infrastructure. This infrastructure is constantly increasing and growing to cover more and more areas to incorporate them with the facility of the internet.
Internet in the Education Sector
As we already mentioned, the internet has remarkable adaptability that has allowed it to integrate with various day-to-day tasks. In the time of COVID, we witnessed this ability of the internet through which it took control of all our working, communication, business, and education activities. Especially if we take a look at the education sector only, which was going through a dire state during the pandemic due to quarantine protocols and lockdowns, as students were barred from going to schools, colleges, universities, and their whole education was at risk.
In times like these, the internet came as a savior by providing means like video conferencing, which became the major component behind online classes through which students were able to resume their educational activities. Apart from online classes, the internet has a humongous chunk of resources available in audio, video, and textual form that students from all over the world can access. These are the few benefits of the internet but we are going to discuss in detail how the current education sector is influenced by the internet.
How the Internet is Transforming the Education Sector
Internet technology has opened different avenues for people to learn. There was a time when educational resources were not widely available and people had to put lots of effort to learn something. One other major problem was that the available information was scattered and in order to get meaningful information, different sources had to be searched to get the whole picture. After the internet, all these problems were solved as it is single-handedly accumulated all the information and resources that one could possibly need to access. Gone are the days when you had to search libraries and books to get the required information and education. In this piece, we are going to discuss some online platforms that are helping transform the education sector.
Online Classes
The biggest transformation that the internet has brought in the domain of education is the concept of online classes. Because of the internet, schools, colleges and universities have shrunk in the pocket of students. Need is the mother of invention, and the need for remote education became drastically high last year during the COVID pandemic, in which, due to lockdowns, students were unable to attend regular classwork. So, instead of students going to school, the school came to them all thanks to the internet. The internet has been the backbone of remote education. The entire structure of online classes stands on video conferencing, through which the teacher teaches a group of students while on a video call, something which is possible only over the internet. Not only classes, but we have also seen instances where exams were also conducted online using tools like Zoom and TeamViewer.
Online Educational Content
The internet is a huge library of information in which you can find anything about any topic. Students now don’t need to go to any sort of library to find a particular book as most of the course books are available on the internet and mostly free of cost in the form of an e-book. On the flip side, students can search about any topic on the web and get specific information without even opening the book in the first place. Apart from that, many educational courses are offered over the web from universities in which users from all over the world can enroll while sitting in their homes. These courses have audio-video educational content and even online tests. Once completed, users also get official certifications.
Visual Education and YouTube
YouTube has been a wonderful creation of the internet. It is the biggest video streaming website with 2 billion active users. YouTube is a free platform on which anyone can post videos. Most of these videos are entertainment-based, but over the years, YouTube has become a major educational hub. There are many creators teaching people different concepts of science and mathematics through innovative infographics. Not only random stuff but there are channels dedicated to teaching full courses and syllabuses on the platform for anyone to learn. The best thing is that all this is free. You only need to search for your query, and more often than not, you’ll find it on YouTube.
Conclusion
The internet is a tool with many uses. It has transformed our lives. Providing ease and convenience in our regular day-to-day routines is the biggest feat of the internet. However, one of the biggest achievements of the internet is what it has done in the field of education. It has not only allowed students globally to access high-profile educational resources and institutes but has also drastically brought down the cost of education, and in some cases, has made it free as well. The internet has made it quite efficient for people to get quality education from the comfort of their homes and that is a marvelous feat in itself.
