Fish Smarty - because we make kids smarter

Friday, April 9, 2010

The Online Education - Part II

The benefits of online education.

Why online learning?
Because you can learn at any time from anywhere. Goodbye boring and long classes. Parents can be part of the learning experience and attend their children while playing educational games.

One stop shop. Every child has his/her own way of learning, some learn via visual elements, some are learning by doing. In addition, parents have the chance to observe and monitor child's learning process without interfering via a proper reporting mechanism. An educational website could provide all these under one umbrella.

Expose to knowledge. Many of the educational programs are designed by teachers and educators across the globe, and some can not be found and learned from books. The home playground is the world wide knowledge.

Less intimidating than in the classroom. Anonymity provides a level of playing field undisturbed by age, gender or color. A child can take more time to think before making a decision rather.

Whether we like it or not, the Internet represents the future. And your child would better get used to it. Nowadays, many people have to attend classes in order to learn how to use the computer and to navigate on the Internet.

Today, the online medium is quite handy. So you can use the educational services offered by an adequate website whenever you like. You can use the didactic material as a primary source of education or as a secondary one, for thorough study.

If you supervise and guide your child’s interests on the Internet, you can successfully influence him or her to use it in a positive manner, and not just for playing games or doing other useless or leisure things that many children consider interesting.

Moreover, don’t forget that good educational websites are playful and meaningful. So they’re useful and pleasant at the same time. And this combination is always a successful one, regardless of one’s activity.

Note:
1. Coleman, Stephanie, “Why Do Students Like Online Learning?”. Last accessed on 29th of March, 2010 at < http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/benefits-of-online-learning.htm >.

Fish Smarty,
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Sunday, April 4, 2010

The Online Education - Part I

In the following lines, we’ll depict the new trend called online child education. We’ll try to list some of the perceptions regarding on-line education, and also to present the main features and benefits of educational web-sites.

The education in our evolved society. Day by day, the world we’re living in evolves in a pretty fast way. And the Internet significantly contributes to this development, being our main informative source. The classic means of information – the television, the radio and the newspapers – are constantly falling off, and some of the media companies managed to adjust the content and to create their own on-line platforms. As a matter of fact, as we all know, there are already online libraries, publishing houses, second-hand bookshops and specialized online lectures. This means that persons like you and me educate themselves and gather information by this electronic mean, the Internet. The way we are accomplishing these activities is a personal choice, according to our interests and judgment.

Starting with the Internet’s development, people became suspicious about its effects on society, on individual life, and least, but not last, on children’s education. Today, people are wary of the Internet the same way they were recently of the television or, long ago, of cars, for example. But all these are specific evolution marks and, no matter how frightened we were by their novelty in the beginning, they all became de facto features of our world. And the Internet is on the right track. The Internet is booming. The presence of educational and trustful web-sites, whether they are for children or not, is a proof that the Internet can function and can be used in a good manner.

For example, you, as a parent, like to read news, watch movies and connect with friends on the Internet, or to learn and find out new things. Your child can have a great fun as well on the Internet, as long as the content is adjusted to his or her age and interests. You can explore and encourage your child behavior to use the Internet in a useful way, without losing time as most of the kids do, unfortunately.

When you choose a web-site as playground for your child, what information would you like to see? Put yourself in your child's shoes. It's not easy to make a selection, on one side you, the parent, and on the other side the child who wants to explore, play and have fun.

A child educational web-site must be simple, intuitive and easy to use. And its content must be catchy and diverse, colored and animated. The educational activities should not have to exceed the child’s age group. Don’t forget that learning is a gradual, proper and patient process. Children learn and assimilate information rapidly, and are moved and delighted by each new discovery. A child's brain in the early years is making connections that will last for a lifetime.

Part II - coming soon.