LOGO Role of Internet In Education

LOGO Historical Background  The first significant technological change that was reflected in education was the invention of typography.  But it took several centuries before books were available for every student's individual education.  Other attempts in using various teaching aids (generally technology) are connected with the industrial revolution.  These attempts were rather unsuccessful. None of these aids replaced standard textbooks nor changed classical instruction methods. The mass form of one-way information transfer, such as in public broadcasting, prevents individual learning, because it does not reflect individual needs.  In the 70's and 80's, when first personal computers reached the markets there were suggestions that computers would soon replace not only textbooks, but also even teachers. These hopes turned out vain again.

LOGO Historical Background cntd….  Today we find ourselves in similar situation, but on a different level and with different consequences.  Individual technical teaching aids have been transformed into integral information and communication technology.  Interconnected computers are able to play the role of all the above-mentioned technical aids including textbooks. There is no need to wait for the exact time the desired information is broadcasted or to walk to the library or video store.  Information Technology enables very sophisticated control of the work of the users of educational applications as well as uncontrollable communication of all the connected people via the Internet.

LOGO What is the Internet about?  Internet interconnects computers.  An expert of Geneva based CERN institution Tim Berners-Lee concluded the development of the system of internal hypertext documents transfer in the  As this high standard scientific institution was already equipped with the internal network based on the same protocol (TCP/IP) as the Internet (intranet), the resulting system could be transferred from the CERN to the whole World.  The most popular Internet application - the World Wide Web later developed on this platform.  The WWW service has been improved to such extend that it meets all the requirements on hypermedia software.  There are a vast number of servers or computers where the WWW documents can be placed, so the possibility of Web publishing is open to virtually anyone nowadays.

LOGO  The original intention of the world encyclopedia has been to collect and store only serious information important for the development of knowledge of human kind.  But then, due to the high costs of development and maintenance, the U.S. Government decided to open the Internet also to the commercial sector. After that the Internet started to be used more and more for trade as various commercial companies found a fertile soil for their activities there.  The art of evaluation and processing of the information is a very important condition for using the Internet in general. What is the Internet about? Cntd…

LOGO The ways of application of the internet to education-The source of information  As it is ever so easy to publish data on the Internet, the quantity rapidly grows nearly every organization has a WWW site; publishing of any private WWW pages is possible on public servers.  The stage when computers will be able to independently analyze the data has still not been reached. But today we can already come across WWW systems where the users can adjust the appearance and content of the pages. They are called the portals. They originate in a combination of directories and search engines.  Some of them specialize on education or even teachers. As an example you can see TeAch-nology ( of the Teachnology, Inc. with interesting "The Best on the Web for Teachers" service.

LOGO Communication tool  Another interesting possibility offered by Internet is the communication among users. The main service in this field is the electronic mail known as E- mail.  The appropriate use of is one of the means of cooperation of the class with the environment outside of the school. It could improve the motivation of the students and secure the social contact with other personalities that can be a valuable source of information and wisdom.  The users of also create various voluntary interest groups - conferences, where they discuss common topics.

LOGO Teachers' helper  The teachers have to look for new information to improve their work. So they can be in touch with their colleagues from around the world, or sign up to conferences and receive even tens of potentially interesting messages per day.  Most online services have their own educational services available only to subscribers. They include:  America Online: Under the keyword education you can find such services as Simon and Schuster College Online, which includes a section of faculty resources and teaching tips. Keyword EUN for the Electronic University Net work, where you can take a no-credit course, Distance Learning 100, for free. It is a useful introduction to the principles of online learning. While in EUN, look for the DL Forum. It will connect you to the DL Conference and the DL Message Board. The EUN Conference Hall at the Student Union contains chat rooms, and there is a large library of informational files to download.

LOGO Teachers' helper … cntd  CompuServe: Several forums offer online classes; ask the Education Forum Sysop for a list. The EdForum is the home of Section 11, called SchoolNet/Distance Learning. The files area has everything from a DL bibliography to educational shareware. CIS also offers a massive array of general educational and research choices.  Delphi: Online educational services of all types are discussed in the forum called Education Ideas. Go REF and then choose EDUCATION IDEAS. In addition to Delphi’s complete Net access, you also can go CUSTOM from the main menu to look at the current Custom Forums list. These member-maintained discussion groups include several with educational themes.

LOGO Student Helper  It is clear that one of the most important goals in preparing students for life in the world that is stuffed with information must be the ability to search and evaluate the relevant pieces of information.  Some of the suitable resources for students are universal. These are the encyclopedias, databases, archives, museums, etc. In its possibilities the Internet offers much wider choice than even the largest collection of CD-ROMs.  Some of the general ones work on the system that anybody can ask any question and everyone can answer it (Ask Jeeves -

LOGO Student Helper … cntd  Other specialized services, cooperate with a network of librarians and various experts, which answer the questions of students and assist them, e.g. Ask An Expert All Experts Ask Dr. Mathhttp://forum.swarthmore.edu/dr.math/, Ask-A- Scientist Ask Dr. Universe  There are even several servers specialized in assisting with doing the home assignments (e.g. or pinchbeck/). pinchbeck/  An exceptional source of materials is the archive of the international prestigious competition ThinkQuest( It is a very interesting event, where the teams of students compete in designing WWW pages suitable for education.

LOGO Distance learning  The more students are interested in learning certain skill and the more concrete the subjects of learning are, the easier it is to get to the goal.  As there are many people willing to learn something (e.g. the re-qualification of the unemployed or teachers learning IT), certain more or less instructive methods may be used here.  It also means that there is a demand for certain kind of education on the market.  Rapid development of the Internet enables to introduce learning in virtual distance forms.  There are some schools (higher and secondary) that offer the full distance programs on the Internet.

LOGO Distance learning... cntd  One of the most important features of distance learning is the possibility to study at any chosen time and wherever there is an access to the Internet. The learners can choose their own pace of progress.  There are always some students that find the virtual school environment and distance communication more suitable and have better results than in ordinary classroom. So, besides the advantages of availability of materials and the control of the processes, there is one important reason for introducing some distance features to the teaching plans of higher education. It contributes to creating a variable learning environment for students of different qualities and offers to choose the most suitable way of learning

LOGO Artificial Intelligence  The abilities of computer-based systems improve and it seems that they will soon get closer to the human abilities.  The computer assisted learning systems (CAL) that have been developed at many places since the 1980's have tried to replace the teacher and control the activities of students.  In fact it meant that this application had to anticipate all the possible reactions of the student when working with the program. So it was an intention to create a kind of an artificial teacher.  Current applications of this kind are called Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) and are typically based on three separate software modules - expert model, student model, and instructor model  The expert model represents subject matter expertise and provides the ITS with knowledge of what is teaching.  The student model represents what the user does and doesn't know. This information lets the ITS know who is teaching.  The instructor model enables the ITS to know how to teach by encoding instructional strategies used via the system user interface.  The interconnecting of intelligent machines enables the decentralization of decision-making. This solution is still more effective to the one when a central computer makes the decisions. The network also allows the machines to share information about what is going to happen in certain circumstances.

LOGO Methodology of using the internet in education  In the so-called Information society this opinion has some validity. There is so much information available today that it is impossible for one individual to embrace it all.  It is important to be able to solve one particular problem at the time it occurs. The development in many disciplines is so fast that it will soon become impossible for the school to train students completely for future occupation.  The employers will require their staff to learn new skills many times during lifetime. In case of loosing a job, there are probably going to be only positions in different branches available.  These are the reasons that support the need for the education "on demand" and "just in time". Therefore some politicians, especially the European ones, are speaking about the "Learning Society" or "eLearning" more often.

LOGO Downloading Information  File transfer protocol (FTP) is a tool that allows users to access information and files. For example, if you wanted to make services at your office more user- friendly, you could use FTP to access a program that automates your , letting you know by menu or voice that you have mail waiting.

LOGO Project Based Learning  The project method is one of the most sophisticated forms of the modern concept of education.  It enables the active involvement of the students as well as practicing teamwork with cross-curricular links.  It is difficult to define it exactly as it may have various forms and it often overlaps to other activities that have different names - global or holistic education, open learning, experience-pedagogy, etc. Project is an assigned task for which the students have theoretical background and certain effort is needed to solve it.  The use of the Internet is an important part of many projects. Processing of text, pictures, numbers, and even the final presentations of results cannot be done without a computer.  But the Internet is not only a platform for getting information and presenting the results of the school work. It may be used for other purposes as well

LOGO EDUCATION FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM  Internet rarely acts as a catalyst by itself for schooling change, yet can be a powerful lever for realizing planned educational innovations.  The term innovation is used as a general designation for substantive, positive change in a school system. The real practical examples of innovative approaches were chosen for the purposes of this research only if they involved the whole school, not only limited number of teachers or one subject.  Besides the source of information, the Internet is the tool that connects the classroom with the nearby and distant environments. It enables the participation of mates, experts, politicians, and the parents - basically of the whole society.  Some educational activities may be done outside the lessons and even outside the school building. So it helps to overcome the image of separated classes, separated subjects, and not co-operating teachers.

LOGO Conclusion  We may consider as proven today that the ICT influence the current development of educational methods. Although the use of the technology does not necessarily have to lead towards positive changes in the educational results, there is no doubt that there is a certain impact.  The constructive approach of Internet’s involvement is currently dominating. But it would be a mistake to believe that the development of educational technology is the only cause for using these methods. If the schools on higher level of technological equipment tend more towards constructive methods, it may be also caused by the fact that they have wider access to information. So they could easily find out about new trends in the theory of education and other branches of science and try to implement them more then others.  The Internet has changed the way teachers teach and has become an invaluable resource. It serves as a tool to challenge students academically, provide instruction, and allows for students to explore different perspectives.

LOGO Conclusion Cntd…  The real positive impact of the Internet can be found in accelerating and amplifying the instructional processes.  It is not only able to influence the constructive or instructive methods, but it can also amplify any good or bad method, which is not quite the same. The way of using the technology depends, above all, on the knowledge, skills, and talent of teachers and parents. Their task is to foster this implementation in the desired direction. In case they don't succeed, the Internet could support the use of unsuitable methods resulting in the negative impact on the development of the whole human civilization.  The role of education in forming general attitudes of the youth is important. The global environment of the Internet can help to see the world from a certain detached view and in contexts, which would be hard to imagine otherwise.

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