guides available, but that,
perversely, the better
guides tended to require the best searching
skills to locate them. A few students were
enthusiastic about using online support, however
the majority felt that if they had the skills to
locate such resources they wouldn't use a study
guide to improve these
skills, and if they did not
have the skills they would not think of using an
online guide to develop them.
Students wanted assistance when they had
problems or questions, rather
than sites that
offered structured learning experiences.
Personal support rather than virtual support was
also considered to be most important to the
students in this study.
Benefits of Internet-based education:
Flexibility to pursue education at personally convenient times.
Ability to take time to compose thoughts contributed to class discussions on newsgroups or list service.
Ability to interact with classmates in different locations using real time text, audio, or video.
Reduction or elimination of travel cost to attend lectures.
Wider range of students in a
class (regional, national or global participation) resulting in a wider
range of opinions and views shared in class discussions.
Problems of Internet Based Learning:
Lack of motivation can lead students to drop out.
Students may not be able to express themselves as well using the computer based communication methods
Cost of computer equipment and
communications infrastructure
may limit the number of students that can
afford an Internet-based course.
Students will have a lack of technical support in their homes to use the software tools needed in the course.
One of major problems with Internet-based
learning is the isolation
that students feel from their
instructors and ineffective methods
for dialog.
E-mail communication helps to some extent but
lacks
the visual cues and facial expressions that
convey messages of
understanding, or lack
of comprehension, of questions and responses
between the student and instructor.
Group discussions on newsgroups
provide
students a chance to compose their thoughts, but
lack
some of the dynamics on classroom
discussions and favor students
that are
comfortable with e-mail and newsgroups.
Low cost interactive
video over the Internet
provides students with some of the dynamics
of a classroom discussion but lack methods to
moderate or facilitate
discussions.
Real time interactive video solves many of the
above
problems but raises the cost of the system
to such a high level
that it limits those that can
access the system. Thus, type of
interaction
needed by the students will determine which
technology
is most suited.
Benefits to the instructor:
1-Lower cost in electronic publication of course
material compared to printing the same
material.
2-Faster methods for electronically revising and
re-distributing course materials and
documentation compared to print materials.
3-Using
the World Wide Web for delivering
courses allows instructors to develop
content a
single platform, yet the content is accessible by
students
using a wide range of WWW browsers.
4-Ability to re-use lecture materials by simply
providing links
5-Ability to automatically track student's online
behavior.
6-Having automated registration and billing
using commerce WWW servers.
7-Larger number of students can take courses .
8-Automation of the student evaluations with
online interactive quizzes
Internet and Education:
The Internet in education can expand the
knowledge of students, teachers, and parents. ..
Students can use the internet to convert their
theoretical knowledge into practical. The
Internet provides the facilities for students to do
the experiments, research, and development.
Internet, the most useful technology of modern
times which helps us not only in our daily lives
but also in professional lives. For educational
purposes, it is widely used to gather information
and to do research or add to the knowledge of
various subjects. Internet plays a very vital role
in education.
Changes that result from new
technologies :
A shift from classroom lectures to computer
networked access to educational resources .
A shift from student as a passive recipient of
education to a self-directed student learning.
A shift from individual learning to team learning.
A shift from homogeneous and stable
educational content to fast-
changing content presented in a wide range of
formats.
learning styles:
1-Visual or Spatial Learning
- The ability or preference to learning information
using graphical
images and 3D models of objects.
Internet technologies that support this
type of
learning include the World Wide Web and all its
images, and 3D
modelling languages such as
(Virtual, Reality, and Modelling Language).
2-Musical and Sound Learning
The ability or preference to use of music and
sound to understand
educational material. Internet
technologies that support this type of
learning
include downloadable sound files on WWW and
real time on-demand
audio.
3-Intra-Personal Learning
The ability or preference to learn by encouraging
or requiring
students to understand their own
feelings, interests, goals, etc..
Internet
technologies that support this type of learning
are interactive questionnaires on WWW or
downloadable multimedia applications
(also
known as applets).
4-Inter-Personal Learning
- The ability or preference to learn by discussing
with others.
Internet technologies that support
this type of learning include text,
audio and video