The Internet has become an inseparable part of modern education. There was a time when people were either “online†or “offlineâ€. Nowadays, it has become quite obvious that the internet is always on. The Internet has become like the air or water – a basic necessity. It is a part of the lives of people in this current era. The Internet is not a discrete entity anymore, and hence, when we talk about education and the internet and how they related to each other, we actually imply to contemporary education.
With the increasing speed of internet connection, digital content has started to reign in this era, especially in the educational sector. The Internet has made education a lifelong process and experience. The background that I come from didn’t provide me with the opportunity to access a good graduation school or university due to distance issues.
But nowadays, I find students are able to access any course, any educational qualification and gain a detailed knowledge regarding any subject with the help of the internet.
Learning history through the internet:
Now that we are talking about internet education and learning history, it is quite imperative that we understand how crucial a role internet plays in spreading education.
When students learn something, what are the things that they actually require?
- Books
- Materials
- Information
- Attractive teaching methods
- Best teachers
Most of these are unavailable to those, who rely on distant education. But, the internet makes it possible for students to access all these easily.
When it is an intense subject such as history, keeping information handy is a must. From dates to names, from events to their causes, from consequences to current scenario, there are so many things that a history student has to keep access to. The Internet is the best medium that one can access for all these information.
How does internet help with learning history?
As a student of history, I often came across various questions in my mind regarding events of the past, people and communities that were involved in these events as well as the deep-rooted causes behind these events. But, the books often failed to provide the detailed scenario of a certain topic and mostly focussed on the curriculum or syllabi.
With the internet, things have changed. Students can get an answer to their exact questions from the internet. There are various kinds of digital content that you can access through this digital medium or education platform. These include –
- A wide range of e-books that you do not get hold of easily in libraries or elsewhere
- Journals, where educationists, historians and history scholars publish their research papers
- Easy explanation of historical events through audio-visuals.
There is no single event in history that you can’t find on the internet. For a thorough, brief, detailed or even a crisp knowledge of the chronological events of history, you can always rely on history.
Using internet for a better knowledge of history:
- Go through resources:
The Internet is the largest one-stop resource of every piece of information that you are looking for while learning. Students of history, just like me, for a long time had to depend on the traditional resources of education such as books, libraries, films, videos, etc. But these do not seem to be enough.
Online resources are many in number and variety, and they can always quench your thirst to know more about history in details. Finding information that you cannot find in a text book is easier with internet.
- Take online classes:
When you are learning history, taking special classes from renowned professors, setting a lecture up with a famous historian, etc. are things that you always desire of. This is what the internet helps you with.
Regardless of the distance problems as well as the time problems, online history classes can help you with gaining more knowledge. Virtually everyone can now access education with the help of internet, regardless of the geographical position.
- Get help for projects and assignments:
Homework, assignments and projects are an integral part of history education. Without history projects, learning history will be incomplete. However, history assignments can be really time-consuming with many facts and information to be collected and incorporated into the project. If there is an examination that you have to prepare yourself for, you can easily do so by hiring the professionals.
There are online professionals, who are skilled and experienced professors and teachers of history in renowned educational institutes. If you are stuck with a question, falling short of time or need help to complete an assignment, they can help you with your task. This is a great help that only internet education can provide you with.
What should you be careful about?
While using the internet for educational purposes, especially for a subject like a history, there are new readings, thesis and papers that are available on the internet, that need to be avoided in most cases. This is because, for a school or college level education, there is no need for these readings. Hence, complicating your studies is not very much required in the elementary, high school or graduation level.
But these are not to be taken too seriously. You should make use of this amazing platform, so that you can do well in your studies, as well as enjoy your history learning process. The Internet only expands the potential of the students to learn and lets them expand the world of learning, information and education.