Students Discuss How The Internet Has Helped Them In Education

Decades ago, if a student needed to find some information in order for him or her to complete assignments, coursework and essays, the closest form of research they’d get to were books from the library.  However, nowadays, there are many research options helping to aid students with their education, with one obvious example being the World Wide Web.

There is a massive variety of content – videos, articles, photographs, etc, which are all easily available. Also, it has lead to some people being able to gain qualifications online whilst being able to fulfil other commitments, such as employment or childcare.

Students on The Student Room have been discussing how the internet has helped them in education, and this is what they had to say:

Ladyliesel:

“It’s made research easier in many ways. You can’t always trust what you find but the quantity is vast. It’s been helpful for finding sources. For example, in History I can try to find books for sources in my coursework. It’s also good for examples e.g. using situations to show application in Sociology.”

t//:

“There are so many ways you can study. You can watch educational videos and reads books and articles online. It just makes everything a lot easier.”

Alexandra’s Box still sees the value in an old fashioned text book:

“I suppose it is easier – especially for the more basic ‘define’ type of homework we get – but there is something rewarding about hunting down a fact after trawling through several textbooks and encyclopedias!”

Internet research does come with it’s pitfalls though.

Some internet sources do not always give accurate or correct information and students also find the internet can be distracting at times! There is also the risk of plagiarism by copying essays found on the internet however tools such as turn it in have gone a long way to dealing with this.

Some universities now offer a 24 hour library service for students who want to continue their research in the library however the number of computers in these spaces is growing as online resources become a quicker and more convenient option. And with products like Amazon’s Kindle now on the market I wonder how long it will be before the textbook is gone for good, especially given students eye for technology