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Image: Flickr, Jean-Pierre Dalbéra

Oh Internet, where would we be without you? We certainly wouldn't be instant messaging someone we met at Machu Picchu six years ago. Or trawling through an album of a girl we went to primary school with entitled 'OMG! It's a Boy!' We wouldn't be able to craft a sentence using only emojis, or replace IRL laughs with a message thread of LOL's. Before the Internet, literally only meant in the 'literal manner or sense' and not also 'used for emphasis while not being literally true'. And there was no such thing as 'unfriending' someone.

We no longer require homes, bars, offices or cafes to keep in touch with people. We can do it literally anywhere we happen to be. This begs the question: when we connect to our devices, are we disconnecting from the people around us? Are we hiding behind a screen from the physical world and becoming antisocial in turn? While there is a sense of panic about how the Internet is detrimental to communication, there are also lots of people who believe that it is actually enhancing our relationships. For better or worse, here are a few of the ways the Internet is changing the way we communicate, and how you can keep abreast of tech advances thanks to eBay:

Online Relationships

Tinder popularized online dating among the youthz. The dating-hookup hybrid made online dating cool -- it removed the stigma of forever-alones sitting at home crafting profiles about their love of long walks on the beach and candlelit dinners. According to The New York Times, an estimated 50 million people use Tinder every month.

Outside of Tinder, online dating has skyrocketed on platforms like RSVP and OKCupid. Once the playground of the desperate and the dateless, dating online is as commonplace as meeting someone at a bar these days.

Everyone is an expert

The blogger vs. journalist debate has reached fever pitch lately. While bloggers are seen by their readership as an authentic channel of communication, their credibility and expertise are often called into question by those who have taken a more traditional route to get where they are. By a journalist or a nutritionist, for example.

Thanks to the Internet, anyone with a keyboard can say anything they want and it can sometimes be taken as gospel. An unfortunate example of this is Belle Gibson, who was recently vilified by the media after allegations surfaced that she may never have had cancer -- the premise behind her wholefood app/book 'The Whole Pantry' -- and that contrary to her claims, never donated $300,000 to charity. Her alternate method to beating cancer -- by eating well, essentially -- was scientifically unfounded at best, and life threatening at worse.

On the other hand however, online blogs have given rise to credible voices that may never have been heard otherwise.

Social Media

Social media has enabled us to communicate with a much greater number of people on a global scale that used to only be viable on a local level (outside of pen pals, amirite?) While this is great when it comes to keeping friendships alive over great distances, it also increases the demands on people to keep a much larger number of relationships going simultaneously. Do you really have 1,500 friends?

Social media is a great tool when it supplements IRL relationships. But if you find yourself trawling Facebook or scrolling through Instagram while you're at a dinner party or hanging out with your significant other, it may be time to reconsider your relationship with the Internet.

No matter your stance on whether the Internet has changed communication for worse or better, there's no denying it plays a major role in our lives today. And to make sure you keep abreast of the latest technologies, head to eBay for your next tech purchase. From 29th March to the 2nd April, eBay is holding a 20% off Tech sale on new products from selected retailers!

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The way the Internet has changed the way we communicate

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Oh Internet, where would we be without you? We certainly wouldn't be instant messaging someone we met at Machu Picchu six years ago. Or trawling through an album of a girl we went to primary school with entitled 'OMG! It's a Boy!'

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Educational Technology Research and Development

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Notes

1.

Descriptive studies describe conditions as they exist in a particular setting (e.g., the number of teachers at different grade levels who use computer-based instruction). It is primarily concerned with "what is" type of questions (Knupfer & McLellan, 1996, p. 1196). With descriptive studies, one may use qualitative data sources (field notes from observations, interviews), quantitative sources (descriptive statistics), or both (Ross & Morrison, 1995). Correlational studies examine how variables relate to one another (Ross & Morrison, 1995). A quasi-experimental study uses intact groups. It is similar to the experimental method, with the omission of the randomization component (Ross & Morrison, 1995).

References

1. *Becker, H. J. (2000). Findings from the Teaching, Learning, and Computing Survey: Is Larry Cuban Right? Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8(51). Retrieved on July 11, 2005 from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n51/.

2. Bichelmeyer, B., & Molenda, M. (2006). Issues and trends in instructional technology: Gradual growth atop tectonic shifts. In M. Orey, V. J. McClendon, & R. M. Branch (Eds.), Educational Media and Technology Yearbook, 31, 3-32.

3. Butzin, S. M. (2004). Project CHILD: A proven model for the integration of computer and curriculum in the elementary classroom. Retrieved on May 23, 2006 from http://www.acecjournal.org/archives_archives.php.

4. CEO Forum on Education and Technology (2001). The CEO Forum school technology and readiness report: Key building blocks for student achievement in the 21st century. Retrieved May 10, 2006 from http://www.ceoforum.org/downloads/report4.pdf.

5. *Dexter, S., & Anderson, R. E. (2002). USA: A model of implementation effectiveness. Retrieved on May 23, 2006 from http://edtechcases.info/papers/multicase_implementation.htm.

6. Education Week (2003). Tech's answer to testing. Schools turn to computerized exams to meet new demands. 22(35).

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Author information

Affiliations

1. Learning Sciences and Technology Academic Group, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore, 637616, Singapore

Khe Foon Hew

2. Instructional Systems Technology, Indiana University, Room 2216, W. W. Wright Education Building, Bloomington, USA

Thomas Brush

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Khe Foon Hew.

Additional information

*These references make up the 48 past empirical studies that we reviewed.

This paper is a revised version of the manuscript selected as the recipient of the AECT 2006 Young Scholar Award. Revisions were based on blind reviews from a panel of Consulting Editors.

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Hew, K.F., Brush, T. Integrating technology into K-12 teaching and learning: current knowledge gaps and recommendations for future research. Education Tech Research Dev 55, 223-252 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-006-9022-5
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Integrating technology into K-12 teaching and learning: current knowledge gaps and recommendations for future research

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Although research studies in education show that use of technology can help student learning, its use is generally affected by certain barriers. In this paper, we first identify the general barriers typically faced by K-12 schools, both in the United States as well as other countries, when integrating technology into the curriculum for instructional purposes, namely: (a) resources, (b) institution, (c) subject culture, (d) attitudes and beliefs, (e) knowledge and skills, and (f) assessment.

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5. THE WAYS OF APPLICATION OF THE INTERNET TO EDUCATION

5.3 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. This service has been a basic part of computer networks from the beginning.

The access to this service is generally bound to the acquisition of an account (access rights) at some computer connected to the Internet. The user usually gets E-mail box and an address together with the account. In most cases meeting some formal conditions is required and it cannot be anonymous. Employees of many companies dealing on the net, teachers and often even students get E-mail belong to this category. E-mail account may be also gained anonymously on the Web. It means that any fictive name and address can be filled in the application questionnaire there. The most favorite general free E-mail services are http://www.hotmail.com, http://www.yahoo.com/ and also many others.

We will not pay attention to the technical aspect of E-mailing. There are many publications and courses in this field. We should only remember that the teacher should at least be able to guess the origin and some credibility of the sender by the address. He/she should be able to not only send the letter, but also reply to it, forward it or send the same letter to more than one recipient. It is necessary to know how to add a file as an attachment to a message, set the appropriate coding, keep the address book and archive important messages. He/she has to know about the problems of virus spreading and never run or open unknown or unchecked files. On the other hand he/she should not panic after some catastrophic news about viruses. But certain awareness is desirable. By negligence the user can create many serious problems to many other users as well.

The key idea is that students actively construct their own knowledge; the mind of the student mediates input from the outside world to determine what the student will learn. Learning is active mental work, not passive reception of teaching. In this work other people play an important role by providing support, challenging thinking, and serving as coaches or models, but the student is the key to learning.

Anita E. Woolfolk (professor, The Ohio State University): Educational Psychology, Allyn and Bacon, 1993

We will focus on the use of this tool in education. The appropriate use of E-mail 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. For example some important scientists could contribute to relevant topic or schoolmates from any part of the world may be contacted.

There is one advantage of the E-mail to the Web. It can be used even when the connection to the Internet is not perfect. In theory, the letters can be read and written when the computer is disconnected. At the moment of establishing the connection the outgoing and incoming mail is quickly exchanged and the connection may be closed again. So it means that E-mail is suitable even for those schools that are connected to the Internet by a standard phone line and pay for the time on the net.

Another important criterion is the existence of students' addresses. If they do not have them, the teacher has to organize the-mail exchange. If they do, they can work independently. But there is the danger of misconduct and unethical behavior. Therefore every student should be told the rules of using the service before being granted the access. The most important rules are:

Clearly summarize the contents of your message in the subject line.

Avoid using inappropriate and offensive language.

Keep your messages short, clear, and focused.

Do review messages before you send them out.

Don't send a message when you're angry.

Avoid sending E-mails to large numbers of people (spam).

Don't send attached files unless you have a very good reason and only if the recipient is expecting them.

Respect other people's privacy.

Check your mail regularly and, whenever possible, respond to people who write to you.

There are three ways we teach our children:
The first is by example;
The second is by example;
The third is by example.

Albert Schweitzer (philosopher, doctor and missioner)

Of course it is not an easy task, but it is up to the teachers to create such an environment in the class where meeting these rules would be natural. They obviously have to act as an example. E-mail and mobile phone messages (SMS) are becoming an everyday feature. It is the cheapest way of communication. Many of the college students would not imagine a contact with their families and friends without the electronic means of communication. The children around the world are looking for penpals, in English nowadays calledkeypals. (e.g. http://www.epals.com/, http://www.teaching.com/keypals/). It is often the case that whole classes of children are exchanging mail on thousands of miles distance. We will get back to the various ways of using the E-mail in education further on.

The users of E-mail also create various voluntary interest groups - conferences, where they discuss common topics. A conference is in fact a simple server program, which includes its own E-mail address and a list of all the members. It forwards all the received mail to the participants. As it often happens that the conferences are misused for advertising, the publication is mostly limited to the members only. Therefore the members may be screened at some conferences before being added to the list. The rules of subscription differ from case to case. There are many international conferences focused on educational technology. EDTECH is one of the longest running and prestigious ones. Relevant information including the archive of all contributions is on the Web at the site http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/~edweb/.

If you decide to publish in any conference, you should pay attention to what you want to say as many people are going to read it. It has happened several times that even an experienced user submitted a letter originally intended as a personal reply. This situation sometimes turns out quite funny, but often there are some odd cases when people get to know something that was not meant to be made public. Therefore it is strongly advisable to check the address of the recipient before sending every E-mail letter.

When communicating with some experienced users, we may come across some language conventions, acronyms and signs that may be hard to understand. Some of the basic ones express feelings or emotions e.g.:

:-) Happy

8-) User wears glasses

:-( Sad

:-/ Skeptical

:-@ Screaming

:-D Laughing

;-) Wink

:-o Surprised

More details and other acronyms and signs may be found, for example, at http://www.netlingo.com/.

High-tech is the latest educational panacea. ... First, it was open classrooms, then new math, then the ditching of phonics. Now, everybody jumps on the bandwagon and says sitting kids in front of computers will solve all our problems. When it doesn't, of course, we will all wake up to find they haven't learned the basics.

Malkin Dare (founding president of the Organization for Quality Education, Canada), 1996

For setting up an individual private conference (e.g. for some educational project), it can be done with the assistance of Web. For instance, the Yahoo Groups http://groups.yahoo.com/, EUN Communities http://community.eun.org/ (see 8.2) or Australian NINEMSN Communities http://communities.ninemsn.com.au/ are worth trying.

A chat is a very special kind of communication. It is an Internet application that enables users to interact in real time ( online). Most of these applications are based on the WWW environment. The users choose the chat site they are interested in, log in with their name, or more often a nickname, and they can communicate with all the people currently connected. The advantage is that the messages written on the keyboard appear on other screens straight away. Especially the children like it. It should be stressed that the potential educational benefit of most of these chats is rather doubtful. Of course this environment may be used for seeking assistance with solving some problem. But the communication often turns out into something undesirable and vain. The quality of discussion often degrades much more if too many people participate.

An example of a chat on the Pedagonet server

But there are also exceptions. The discussions on this platform should be well prepared beforehand, e.g. within the framework of a certain project. There was, for instance, a very nice discussion in Czech Republic between the children in hospitals and children at schools within the project Children like us in 1999. Open discussions with famous personalities (politicians, actors, sport personalities, etc.) are also useful. Discussions with various scientists and scholars are a common part of the majority of scientific projects (e.g. NASA Quest - http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/). Chat is often used for establishing an online contact between distant schools within many common educational projects. Activities of this kind are worth organizing. They create collaborative learning environment and enable to share information as well as emotions. An additional benefit could be in increasing the writing skills of students. We will get back to this topic in the chapter 7 describing projects.

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Role of Internet in Education - 5.3 Communication tool

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5. THE WAYS OF APPLICATION OF THE INTERNET TO EDUCATION 5.3 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. This service has been a basic part of computer networks from the beginning.

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1. Audience (General or Experts?)
2. Current (Is the information too old, obsolete?)
3. Authorative - (who wrote the source? are they qualified in the field? is the source peer reviewed?)
4. Objective - (does the article consider a number of perspectives?)
5. Relevant (Is the article relevant to your research project or essay?)

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https://online.purdue.edu/blog/education/how-has-technology-changed-education

https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-does-the-internet-affect-human-communication

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Education, a cornerstone of personal growth and societal progress, relies heavily on access to information, resources, and innovative learning methods. In this article, we will delve into how the Internet has ushered in a transformative era of learning by democratizing access to information, revolutionizing educational resources, and redefining pedagogical approaches. We will explore the statistics and trends that underscore these changes, providing insights into the evolving landscape of education in the digital age.

Access to Information

Internet Penetration and Global Connectivity

Increased Availability of Information

The digital age has witnessed a remarkable shift in the realm of knowledge repositories. The Library of Congress, renowned as one of the world's largest libraries, houses 164 million items. In stark contrast, the Internet Archive, a digital preservation powerhouse, boasts an astounding collection, encompassing over 30 million books and texts, 8.9 million movies, videos, TV shows, 649,000 software programs, 13.2 million audio files, 3.8 million images, and a staggering archive of 580 billion web pages within the Wayback Machine, as of April 2021.

Impact on Research and Knowledge Acquisition

Google's search engine alone processes over 8.5 billion searches per day, facilitating quick access to information for research purposes.

Online Education and E-Learning

Growth of Online Education Platforms

Moreover, a 2018 study unveiled a significant trend among American students, with over 30% having experienced at least one online course. This statistic underscores the widespread adoption of online learning as a viable educational option. Furthermore, the online learning giant, Coursera, witnessed an extraordinary surge in student registrations in 2021, with a staggering 20 million new students joining its platform.

Flexibility and Convenience

A recent survey conducted by BestColleges delved into the preferences of prospective online students, current online students, remote learners, and online program graduates. Among these respondents, a striking 68% of current online students were juggling their studies with either full-time or part-time employment.

Furthermore, an overwhelming 95% of them had the added responsibility of caring for children under 18 in their households. These statistics underscore the pivotal role online education plays in accommodating the busy lives of working professionals and parents, providing them with opportunities to further their education without compromising their existing commitments.

Personalized Learning Experiences

Crucially, personalized learning has demonstrated its potential to yield substantial positive impacts. Early evidence suggests that personalized learning interventions can enhance student achievement, irrespective of their initial proficiency levels. Importantly, these benefits may not always be immediately apparent; instead, they may unfold over time as educators and institutions refine their personalized learning strategies. Analytical insights further suggest that the effects of personalized learning tend to become more pronounced as educational institutions gain experience in implementing these dynamic approaches.

Digital Skills Development

Internet's Role in Skill Acquisition

Demand for Digital Skills

Online Learning's Ascendance

Online tutorials and courses have emerged as the primary avenues for skill development. Notably, in March on LinkedIn Learning, there was a remarkable 46% surge in the time spent learning by enterprise learners compared to February, translating to an additional 750,000 learning hours. To put this into perspective, it equates to 86 years of watching the entire Game of Thrones series approximately 11,800 times. This data showcases the rapid uptake of online learning as the preferred medium for upskilling and knowledge acquisition.

Access to Coding and Programming Resources

Importance of Digital Literacy in the 21st Century

Collaborative Learning and Online Communities

Online Forums and Communities

Successful online communities for learning include platforms like Stack Exchange and GitHub. Stack Exchange, exemplified by Stack Overflow, offers a valuable resource for individuals seeking prompt answers to their inquiries. Comprising 173 Q&A communities, with Stack Overflow at the forefront, these platforms collectively attract over 100 million monthly visitors, fostering a dynamic environment for learning and sharing technical knowledge.

Social Learning and Peer Interaction

Peer-to-peer learning offers numerous benefits. Research indicates that peer interaction and collaboration can lead to a deeper understanding of content, increased motivation, and improved problem-solving skills. For instance, a study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that peer-led team learning led to significantly higher exam scores and student retention rates.

Global Collaboration and Cultural Exchange

The landscape of international collaboration in education is undergoing a noteworthy transformation. The landscape of international collaboration in education is experiencing a remarkable transformation, exemplified by the surge in cross-border initiatives aimed at facilitating global knowledge exchange.

Challenges and Concerns

Digital Divide

Information Overload

Quality Control and Misinformation

Misinformation is a prevalent issue online, even in educational contexts. According to a study by Stanford University, 82% of middle school students couldn't distinguish between a credible news article and a sponsored content piece.

Institutions and individuals are taking proactive steps to combat misinformation in education. For instance, fact-checking organizations have gained prominence, with websites like Snopes and PolitiFact receiving millions of monthly visitors

The Bottom Line

The Internet has undeniably reshaped the landscape of education in profound ways. We have witnessed how it has democratized access to information, bridged geographical divides through online learning platforms, and fostered collaborative knowledge sharing through online communities. However, this transformative journey is not without its challenges.

To thrive in this digital era of learning, individuals must prioritize digital literacy skills. The ability to critically evaluate online content, discern credible sources, and navigate the vast information landscape is essential. It is the foundation upon which informed decision-making and meaningful learning experiences are built.

As we move forward, it is paramount that we embrace the opportunities presented by the Internet in education while remaining vigilant about its challenges. We must foster a culture of responsible online learning, where learners are equipped not only with technical skills but also with the critical thinking capabilities to navigate the complexities of the digital realm. By doing so, we can harness the Internet's transformative potential to empower learners, educators, and society as a whole, ensuring that the benefits of digital education are accessible to all.

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How Did the Internet Change the Way We Learn?

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From traditional to transformative: Explore how the internet has reshaped learning, fueling e-learning innovations, and fostering online collaborations.

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