The Importance of the Internet in Learning

Internet in the Learning Environment The internet has changed the way humans live now days. It has transformed the way we communicate, share information, and most important of all the approach in the way learners learn. Back in the old days, we used to request peoples address in order to be able to send them letters and stay in touch with them. Now we request people’s e-mail address because it is a faster and more convenient way of staying in contact with many people from around the world. We use chat rooms to have conversations with different kinds of people. When we wanted to look up information about a subject, books and advertisements were the way to go. Now just by typing a few words, search engines like Google and Yahoo get the information for you in a matter of seconds. The learning environment has also changed dramatically with the help of the internet. The previous generation did all of their learning in the classroom. At this very present moment, learners are now able to take classes online. People are able to acquire a diploma or a degree just by having access to the internet. It is surprising how the internet has become part of people’s culture. People with the awareness of how powerful the internet is, would not be able to live regular lives if something like the internet crashing would take place. But maybe that is a good thing, because just as it is useful and convenient, the internet can be a very dangerous tool for humans. In this research paper my job is not to elaborate about the pros and cons of the internet, but about how the internet, such a powerful tool, affects the learning environment. With the help of Jean Piaget’s and Lev Semionovich Vygotsky’s development theories, I will reveal how the World Wide Web affects the minds of learners, whether it is in a good way or in a bad way. Learners now days have easy access to everything the internet has to offer. This can be a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. As Piaget pointed in