The Internet is changing the face of learning. Its `always-on/access-anywhere` functionality makes it a more flexible education aid than the traditional classroom (trainer or any other aid) can ever hope to be.
The Internet also has the ability to facilitate learning in a way that no teacher can possibly hope to simulate given traditional tools. To find out why one needs to look at the contributions made by Tony Buzan and John Amos Comenius towards the theory of education and learning.
Tony Buzan`s concept of mind maps started when he had difficulty in coming to grips with the process whereby one learns. When he researched the way the brain works, he found only books describing the physical traits of the brain. There were no books on how the brain learns. His research into the brain`s working resulted in his mind maps. These are based on the fact the brain does not function in a linear function.
The second contributor, John Amos Comenius, was a Czech educational reformer. He made two key contributions - namely the statement that learners have to relate to what they learn and also the importance of illustrations in books.
Big deal, so what? Well Comenius had to get someone in N"urnberg, Germany to make the necessary woodcuts to have the illustrations printed. This happened in 1658. His book, The Visible World in Pictures, became a prescribed book that dominated the teaching of Latin in Europe for two centuries.
Buzan`s mind maps recognise that the brain remembers best through associations. Words are associated to one another, pictures, colour and shapes are used in mind maps to depict concepts that range from simple to complex, thereby acknowledging the brain`s potential to recall vast amounts of information by means of association. The power of the thought processes lies in the fact that one is not restricted to a single A4 sheet (or book) progressing forward in a linear fashion. What is the Internet other than a huge mind map combining a collection of thoughts of a number of individuals.
Illustrations (pictures, video, sound) as per Comenius`s theory serves to illustrate the topic at hand and thereby make the learning process more authentic and relevant.
The Internet is a (neural) network of hyperlinks. Navigation is not restricted to a linear progression from one point to the next. The ability to create documents that are highly visual, offering colour, sound, animation and video adds to the effectiveness of communication.
It does however, pose certain problems. As far as e-Learning is concerned the field is still fairly wide open with only a limited number of experienced players, but plenty of inferior products in a market where everything that is prefixed with an `e` is considered to be superior. Locally bandwidth and the cost of connecting to the Internet are still quite daunting. However, the future is out there and waiting. Local training departments in search of training material and information now have access to Internet courses. Training no longer need be classroom-based. It is an information brokering service where candidates may request self-study material or research material. The Internet is the tool that can level the playing field in this global arena.
Interesting websites include: W3C Schools offers a range of free courses focusing on scripting languages, from HTML to Javascript. http://www.w3schools.com/. Another is the Open Content organisation (http://www.opencontent.org/) which offers a listing of free manuals on a number of topics.
The biggest advantage to me of the Internet is that it allows those users who want to take control of their development the opportunity to learn as and when they have to...The Internet Classroom does not operate from 8 to 5 weekdays only!
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