1. Introduction
Many of the Internet projects require students to communicate with students from different states or countries via electronic mail or mailing lists or other news groups. Furthermore, The Internet should be a part of an integrated teaching system. It should be seen as a tool that supports and enhances learning and not as a means by itself.Teaching using the Internet does not by itself lead to achieving curriculum objectives, because part from assisting in class preparation, a good knowledge of the Internet allows us to assist our students in their class activities involving the Internet. Besides, Professional Development is a key to updating skills and for career advancement for teachers. Among others, we can use the Internet to join a discussion group, subscribe to a news group, take classes, and keep in touch with professional colleagues.
To successfully use the Internet for teaching, we must know how to access the various services available through the Internet. School students (Public or Private) can harness the power of ICT in order to be productive to the society. Rural Learning can also improve significantly through the use of ICT tools. Government should ensure that funds are released to schools in order for Schools to achieve their objectives.
2. How the Internet Enhances the Teaching Process
We can use the Internet to add value, manage our classroom or improve the planning. We want to teach using the Internet because we want to change, improve, add a new dimension to our teaching, or vary the types and increase the quality of activities assigned to students. In learning, the students need some motivation. Allow them to use the Internet in their learning is a motivational push to who are bored by the traditional ways of information delivery, and thereby expedite the transfer of information from the short-term memory to the long-term memory. The Internet allows us to motivate some of the lost students in the class, and thereby accelerate the assimilation process.
According to an African proverb, a person who asks questions understands a new language faster. Using the Internet for educational activities provides a different avenue for discovery through questioning, and for critical evaluation of information. It is also important that we answer students’ questions properly and timely. This is why we must constantly retrain according to the needs of the time. For this information age, we must be vexed with the personal and educational uses of the Internet.
Generally, Communication is a way of using knowledge. It is a source for re-enforcement. The Internet promotes fast communication across geographical barriers, and therefore gives students an opportunity to communicate early in life with a broad range of people not imagined possible before. Also using knowledge in different settings give a better understanding of the different shades of meaning of the concepts involved in a giving learning situation.
Besides to manage the class room, you can post class lessons, homework problems, and practice exams on the Net for students to access from home, from the library, or from any place that has access to the Net. Parents can access the Web pages to confirm the homework problems their children are required to do. Moreover, the homework could be structured in such a way that the student can progress from simpler to more challenging activities by means of hyperlinks. In addition to posting class lessons and homework, we can have a class bulletin board on web site. In this way, students can get involved in class discussions in a manner not possible in the classroom. This medium can also be used to resolve problems between class periods.
In conclusion, the Internet allows you to add content to your lessons and to disseminate useful information to students and parents without waste of valuable class time and those give many advantages for students in learning.
3. Advantages of Students Using ICT for Learning
As was pointed out previously, the Internet provides students with the tools they need to discover and own knowledge. And give students the hooks and templates they need to fasten information to the long-term memory. There are some advantages of student using ICT for learning :
1. Motivating Factor.
The Internet can act as a motivating tool for many students. Young people are very captivated with technology. Educators must capitalize on this interest, excitement, and enthusiasm about the Internet for the purpose of enhancing learning. For already enthusiastic learners, the Internet allows you to provide them with additional learning activities not readily available in the classroom.
2. Fast Communication.
The Internet promotes fast communication across geographical barriers. Your students can join collaborative projects that involve students from different states, countries or continents. This type of learning experience was not possible before the Internet. This is a unique learning experience very essential for each of our students, as the world is becoming one big community. Website such as Facebook, Twitter etc has changed the way student and teachers communicate. We can use application like this to reach out to the world, and we can also use it to share ideas and information.
3. Cooperative Learning.
The Internet facilitates cooperative learning, encourages dialogue, and creates a more engaging classroom. For example, Google product for our class will allow your students to get involved in class discussions through Google range of products(gmails, Google+, Google App) in a way not possible within the four walls of the classroom.
4. Locating Research Materials.
Apart from communication, research is what takes many people to the Internet. There are many more resources on the Internet than the school library can provide. We can encourage students to take advantage of this wealth of resources on the Internet for their research.
5. Acquiring Varied Writing Skills
If students are required to publish their work on the Internet, they have to develop hypertext skills. These skills help students gain experience in non-sequential writings. Moreover, and since the Internet is open to all with access, students publishing their work on the Internet are forced to be mindful of their language and to write to non-expert audience.
5. Conclusion
Deploying ICT Infrastructure into our school for both teachers and students can help improve our economy on a long term basis, students and teacher can be able to get the latest information on technology in the world. Private sector partnership should also be encourage, so as to make sure that ICT tools are disbursed to our schools.SOURCES
Internet
