E-Learning_how Technology Effects Education the Internet Allows

E-Learning_How Technology effects education The internet allows for more information to be spread at a lower cost The internet allows for constant communication between teachers and students The internet allows for greater convenience of study and more engaging lessons Spreading information at low cost Textbooks cost more than publishing text on the internet The internet provides cost-effective publishing options for educational materials Bates, 2005, p.

8 citation Classrooms cost more to maintain than web hosting Constant communication Today's world is defined by an ability and expectation to be constantly available Development of the internet and smart phones influences today's constantly connected culture i. Mealy, Loller (Eds.), 2000, p. 233 citation IV. Greater convenience A. Students can learn on their own schedule at a location of their choosing B. Students can engage in multimedia lesson presentation, thus engaging their interests a. By providing easily-accessed multimedia integration, students do not find their studies tedious i. Kwan, 2008, p. 251 citation V.

Conclusion A. Increased online presence at universities is a growing trend (OECD/CERI survey) E-Learning: The Effect of Technology on Education Both education and technology are, in and of themselves, organic and ever changing. They are perhaps the two elements of society that change most frequently and in the shortest amount of change. One need only consider the educational standards of two generations, or even one generation, to realize how much education has changed in so short a period of time.

Technology too changes with great rapidity, and in large leaps and bounds. When combined, one can only expect the changes technology influences in education to be vast and fast. At the creation of the internet, E-Learning became inevitable for a number of reasons. The internet offers the capability to spread copious amounts of information at very little cost to the distributors. The internet allows for constant communication between and among teachers and students. The internet provides a greater convenience than pursuing an education limited to a brick and mortar institution.

Consider first the cost to disseminate information. For most college students attending campus classes, textbooks for a full two semester schedule can cost upwards of five hundred dollars, or more if the student is studying in the sciences. Of course, a large portion of that is markup and does not go directly to compensating the publisher for their costs, but it is far less expensive to publish information on the internet. Virtual space costs less than pages in a book.

In Tony Bates' 2005 book, Technology, E-Learning and Distance Education, he writes, "The main reason for the growth of third generation distance education is the rapid expansion of the Internet and in particular the World Wide Web" (8). The explosion of information-sharing capabilities that took place toward the end of the twentieth century paved the way for a massive shift in education.

While certain schools will still hold sway over reputation (mostly Ivy league schools such as Harvard, Princeton and Yale), many who seek education beyond high school are turning toward online distance-learning opportunities for their cost-effectiveness. The less cost there is to distribute information, house students, maintain classrooms…the less cost is passed onto the consumer or, in this case, student. Technology has advanced to the point today when it is more difficult not to be constantly connected to the rest of the world than the opposite.

This change has come about because of two things: the internet and cellular phones. Developed during the last two decades of the twentieth century, these technologies advanced dramatically in the last ten years, and have allowed everyone to have a world of information (quite literally) at the touch of a finger. Smart phones, a market pioneered by the Apple iPhone, made the internet more portable than ever.

A prediction that societies will become even more communicative in the future is not unreasonable given the expansion of communication since the development of the internet and smart phones. It stands then to reason that education will become increasingly available as well, in order to keep up with current and future trends. "These changes will prepare us, and our children, well for the rigors of the new millennium" (Mealy, Loller (Eds.), 2000, p. 233).

This statement forecasts a future that will become more communicative -- it is important that education keep up because the world beyond tertiary education relies on so much communication -- a constant stream. By incorporating these technological advances into education, students are learning two-fold: the material they directly study and the methods upon which the people of the world rely in order to communicate.

So what are the benefits (for students) of pursuing E-Learning as opposed to (or perhaps in conjunction with) attending a brick and mortar institution? Convenience is one of the major benefits. Consider, for example, the University of Phoenix. This school provides online education without a brick and mortar campus. At its inception, this school only accepted students who were at least twenty-five years old, but since then, many schools have opened that exist virtually in whole or in part.

Whereas a physical university must hold classes at designated times, the internet is not confined in such a way. Those who work multiple jobs or are raising young children suddenly found themselves able to pursue a tertiary education from the comfort of their own homes, with the convenience of working at whatever hours they choose. But convenience isn't the only pro. "Multimedia learning content can arouse learners' interest and motivation at the beginning of participation in e-learning" (Kwan, 2008, p. 251). Due to technological advances, the internet allows for video, sound.