Date Posted: 12/25/2013 11:50:50 PM
Posted By: Wishstar Membership Level: Gold Total Points: 7507
Trust or no trust, educational content on the web will keep on increasing. Many websites offer educational content in one form or another: be it tutorials, video, eBooks or even forums. A good number specializes in a specific field while others opt to generalize their content. Among the courses that have a good number of websites providing their content are: web design, engineering, computer and information sciences and business, no protocol observed. We can broadly classify educational content on the web as either that provided by individuals or the ones provided by educational institutions. The latter has more credibility as they adhere to strict standards lest they compromise the credibility of the institution. The former has mixed reactions as they may offer shallow content or at times, though rare, one or two incorrect statements. In other instances they may just be a copy paste from a book or lecturers' notes. In choosing a website to provide educational content, it is therefore wiser to choose those that are from educational institutions. This however does not mean that the other websites should be completely ignored but rather strict evaluation should be taken before doing so. Educational content provided on the web has a number of advantages. 1. They may offer more detailed explanation than those given in class. 2. They at times offer sample questions and answers. 3. Some offer forums for people to ask and answer questions. 4. They can be accessed anywhere anytime so long as there is internet access. 5. You can contribute or even make corrections on the content provided. 6. The content may be provided in different formats. 7. Links may be available for further research. Looking at the above advantages, especially advantage number 5, it is evident that its rare for an educational website to provide incorrect information, at least if its popular and allows for feedback. The online world does not offer a lot of restrictions on accessing websites. If the website owner has allowed the website to be public then chances are high that even the smallest of errors will be detected hence corrected early. It is also in the minds of website owners to provide the correct and relevant information because after all, nobody wants to lose visitors! As earlier we had classified educational websites as being either institutional or individual based, another general classification may be in terms of either paid or free educational websites. Evidently, the paid ones are normally owned by experts and contain up to date information as well as all the things one ought to know in that field. The free ones on the other hand may also be owned by experts who prefer to be a service to the community. These kind of websites may also be owned by "kawaida" individuals who have a heart of sharing information. Most people, in Kenya especially, will opt to go for the free ones fearing that the paid ones may be fakes. This is not always the case as a good number of them are genuine and offer what they claim to. However, always use your discretion before paying for online services. Educational content may be in a wide range of areas apart from the normal school courses. For instance, you can teach yourself about freelancing, how to make money online or even how to increase your Facebook likes! Let me give you a website example also: freelancerkenya.com. This website basically provides all the necessary information a freelancer in Kenya ought to know as well as tips on how to make money online. There are many more others of such. The best thing about it all is that you just have to search what you want in the major search engines and results availed provided. In summary, almost all educational content provided on the web can be trusted as there are a lot of scrutiny undertaken before or even just after publication. You should choose one that suits you best and that you trust.
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