Sunday, January 17, 2010

anyone can learn from Internet?

I agree that anyone can learn anything, from anyone, anywhere, at anytime. However, “anyone can” doesn’t mean “anyone will”. Internet is a great source for learning, but it is also a source for spreading harmful information, listening to music, watching movies, playing games, and so on. Only a small group of people usually use internet as a source for learning. Most of people use internet as an entertainment. We can learn from Internet, but mostly we won’t. Internet as an entertainment is so distractive that students could barely focus on learning while they are online. Even though internet is a great source for learning, it is also filled with false and harmful information. Sometimes internet doesn’t teach you the right thing. So this requires people to be educated enough to use internet as a source of learning. That’s why a formal school is very necessary. Formal schools provide student a well organized and scientific system to learn knowledge. Schools teach students not only information, but also how to convert the information to their own knowledge. Schools teach students not only how to be successful, but also how to be a good human. Schools teach students not only how to talk, write and read, but also how to communicate with people. There are teachers and good students in school to be other kids’ goal. There are competitions going on in schools to help kids learn better. There are activities in schools to help kids learn for practices. School provides opportunities which internet can never provide. School is a real life experience whereas internet is just a tool. If you want to use internet as a source of learning, firstly, you need to know how to manipulate a computer, how to read, how write, and how to listen. School can teach you these, but internet cannot.

For people who could control themselves and well educated, internet is a great source for further education. For these who are not really self-restrained, a formal school is very necessary, because it helps them focus on learning and teaches you how to be a good human.

1 comment:

  1. Your post has rightly pointed out the real value of schools and formal education (IMHO) - to provide an arena in which learners develop the life skills and habits of mind that will guide them beyond the classroom. For the 21st Century citizen these skills and habits include: information literacy, cultural and global awareness, inventive thinking, problem solving, collaborative and interpersonal skills, adaptability, risk-taking, creativity, intellectual curiosity, accountability, and social responsibility. In addition to the content of any particular course (or maybe in spite of it), schools give all of us (students and faculty alike) the opportunity to learn the essential skills of being human in order to lead happy and purposeful lives.

    Thanx for the thoughtful post.

    ReplyDelete