Internet Tools

There are various internet tools that we can use to further help us in our usage of not only the net but also help us when researching. This time round, during class, i learnt about the Google tools. THEY ARE AMAZING!!!!

There are sooo many things about Google that i did not know about. The search Bar itself is a wonderful thing that does and shows wonderful things.

Here is a Video to bring you into the AMAZING world of Google Tools.

This is one of the many ways that Google helps especially when one is starting off an eBusiness.

The various other tools of Google are Google Maps, Trends, Translate, Earth, Docs.

One of my favorite Google tool is Google Docs. This not only allows me to send my work to my friends, Group members or even colleagues, but also allows them to modify it. The modification can be done and sent to everyone and it can go on. Due to this helpful tool, people don't always have to meet up for discussions and stuff! =D

E-Learning!

What is E-learning? As stated by our favorite site Wikipedia, it is something that comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. The information and communication systems, whether networked or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process. The term will still most likely be utilized to reference out-of-classroom and in-classroom educational experiences via technology, even as advances continue in regard to devices and curriculum.

There are many features to E-learning that some of us may know and some may not. Here are a few, to help double check what you know already and what else you can do with it. =)

http://www.worldwidelearn.com/elearning-essentials/elearning-benefits.htm

• Learning is self-paced and gives students a chance to speed up or slow down as necessary
• Learning is self-directed, allowing students to choose content and tools appropriate to their differing interests, needs, and skill levels
• Accommodates multiple learning styles using a variety of delivery methods geared to different learners; more effective for certain learners
• Designed around the learner
• Geographical barriers are eliminated, opening up broader education options
• 24/7 accessibility makes scheduling easy and allows a greater number of people to attend classes
• On-demand access means learning can happen precisely when needed
• Travel time and associated costs (parking, fuel, vehicle maintenance) are reduced or eliminated
• Overall student costs are frequently less (tuition, residence, food, child care)
• Potentially lower costs for companies needing training, and for the providers
• Fosters greater student interaction and collaboration
• Fosters greater student/instructor contact
• Enhances computer and Internet skills
• Draws upon hundreds of years of established pedagogical principles
• Has the attention of every major university in the world, most with their own online degrees, certificates, and individual courses

There are also many benefits with E-learning:

Convenience and Portability

• Courses are accessible on your schedule
• Online learning does not require physical attendance
• Learning is self-paced (not too slow, not too fast)
• You're unbound by time - courses are available 24/7
• You're unbound by place - study at home, work, or on the road
• Read materials online or download them for reading later

Cost and Selection

• Choose from a wide range of courses to meet your needs
• Degree, Vocational, and Certificate programs
• Continuing Education
• Individual courses
• Wide range of prices to fit your budget
• Go back to school to get a degree, learn a new skill, learn a new craft, or just have fun!
• From art to zoology you can do it all online in a price range to fit your budget.

Flexibility

• Online learning accommodates your preferences and needs - it's student-centered
• Choose instructor-led or self-study courses
• Skip over material you already know and focus on topics you'd like to learn
• Use the tools best suited to your learning styles

Higher Retention

• Online learning will draw you to topics you like and enjoy. Studies show that because of this and the variety of delivery methods used to reach different types of learners, retention is frequently better than in a traditional classroom.

Greater Collaboration

• Technology tools make collaboration among students much easier. Since many projects involve collaborative learning, the online environment is far easier (and often more comfortable) to work in since learners don't have to be face-to-face.

Global Opportunities

• The global learning community is at your fingertips with online learning. The technologies used give online instructional designers the ability to build in tools that take you to resources you may never see in a traditional classroom.

I have been using the E-learning system since i was in secondary school when it was a popular thing for schools to use. I still remember that i enjoyed doing my work via e-learning and and due to the fact that due to e-learning, i didn't have to go to school and could do my work online. Also helped that i didn't have to look at my teacher's faces for that day!! =D

So all in all, i would say that e-learning can be either taken positively or negatively depending on one's own perspective. But when it comes to technology, i would urge all to look at it positively as it is a WONDERFUL thing to know and use.=D

Social Networking Sites (SNS)

Here is a sneak peak to what social networking site (SNS) is. =)

What is a social networking site? Wikipedia states that social networking site is “a social structure made up of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes", which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.”

Many people around the world today are all about Social Network Sites, also known as SNS. These SNSs are there for various reasons. To keep in touch with friends, find old friends, to do business and even to make new friends. There are dangers on social networking sites which people tend to underestimate. Personal Information is something that when given out easily, comes back to haunt us.
Social networking sites tend to mislead people into believing that they have become social beings. The more “friends” you have on your list, the higher your popularity. Staring at your computer, chatting with fiends and random people as well as playing online poker does not make one a social person. People become so tech-reliant that they forget what it is like to communicate with people face to face.
Online social interaction may give the ‘quite’ people a chance to communicate more and express themselves more freely. These people have a different personality when they are online and when they are offline. These two personalities clash when faced with reality. This is normally a problem when two people meet on an SNS and decide to meet up. It ends up such that their portrayed personalities online do not match their descriptions.
Be careful of what you are sharing on these sites. It is easy to give out enough personal information for random people to find you, your family and friends through it. Personal information like home address, phone numbers and full name. This information can be cross checked with the network’s list and traced to your place and address.

A good number of people do not realize that the information they post can be seen by everyone unless they have restricted profiles. Random people from around the world or even from your neighborhood can find information and use it to track and hack your accounts. Even releasing information about your child; school is dangerous as a predator out there, is now aware as to where to get your child.

Posting up of pictures is another thing to look out for. Pictures are put up to share with friends and family. However, are those pictures alluring or provocative to catch the eye of a dangerous person? Despite knowing it might not be safe, some even put indecent or racy pictures of themselves to attract attention. What if those pictures catch the wrong attention and put you in a dangerous spot.

When you are looking for job, the first thing you do is send your resume to the company. The first that the company does upon receiving your resume, is check up on you via the internet. What they get when they first type your name is the link to the social network site that you have joined. From there, they check out all your personal information and pictures. If, they do not like what they see, they chuck your resume and go on to the next person.

A positivity that a social network site allows is the promoting and conducting of any particular business. Any user might like what they see and proceed on to purchase it. After making payment for the object or even service, it might be defective. However, it might not be the case all the time.

SNS can be very addictive. We join it to be in touch with friends from the past and the present. They also join it to know what is going on in the clique that they want to join. We also want daily updates of the people on our list, so we checkout their profiles even though it is not something that effects us in any way.

Not only that, we tend to play the games on it as everyone is playing them too. We get ‘invitations’ from our friends and we join them for the sake of it. We start off with Farmville and we proceed with quizzes that pop up every other time we are online. We start off with playing the games once a month, which goes on to once a week, to once a day and ends up with us playing it every hour. There starts our social network site game life.

As the world becomes more tech savvy, as does our reliance on it. The first thing we do when we get our mobile phones is to download our social network site application. Then we proceed on to doing something more with it. Once we have access to it on the go, we update it regularly with minute by minute progress. As you sit beside someone in the bus or train, the first thing you will notice the person doing is checking out the activities that are occurring on the SNS.

Social networking sites can have both negative or positive impacts on a person. It all comes down to how the person is using the tools that are provided in using these sites.