4 Ways to Utilize Technology in Informal Education

Before academic institutions were established, informal education already existed. It takes on different forms and now, more than ever, proves to be a good way for any individual to learn. But first, we must define this concept.

Informal education basically covers every aspect of learning that doesn’t take place in a normal school setting. Homeschooling, or unschooling, is one of the most common forms of informal education. Going to far-flung areas where the youth can’t go to school is a common way to practice informal education in many third world countries. But for this article, we’ll be tackling a type of informal education that’s not given that much thought.

Self-learning is something any individual can do without needing direct help from teachers. With the advent of technology in the recent years, it’s even more possible to anyone with a computer. Learning extensively about Physics and Biochemistry is made possible due to all the resources provided by technology. Devouring books in local libraries is no longer the only choice to expand your knowledge. Technology offers more options on how you can explore and break the boundaries of human learning.

Download e-books. Isn’t it frustrating when you want to read a book so much but it’s in a library a thousand miles away from you, and it’s too expensive to purchase? Well, save yourself from scavenging in second-hand bookstores, because all of the books you can dream of can be downloaded online. Buy yourself an e-book reader or a tablet, and spend hours into the night learning about a new language or understanding the intricacies of human behavior. You can either download e-books for free on sites such as Free E-books.net or pay a small price in Amazon.com.Visit educational Youtube channels. Home of vlogging and viral internet videos, Youtube has more to offer than you can imagine. There’s a bunch of channels that focus on educational videos. Learn about Advanced Quantum Mechanics, Cosmology, and Technology Entrepreneurship on Stanford University‘s channel. How about Stylish Academic Writing from Harvard? There are also independent groups and individuals that offer tutorial on every topic imaginable. Just browse the Science & Education channels for more ideas. Youtube also houses thousands of tutorials about the most basic skills.Enrol in online courses. If you miss the standard format of education, there are online courses easily available online. What’s even better is that most of them are free. Be it self-paced learning, webinars, or group studies, every field of knowledge is covered in the numerous open education websites. Try Poynter’s New University and MIT OpenCourseWare if you want to learn from established institutions. If you’re looking for a certificate in finishing a course, The Open University deserves a shot.Communicate with other learners. Distance learning gives students a chance to explore options to learn from someone other than their teachers. If you’re learning a new language, it’s best to talk to someone who speaks the language. There are sites that offer chances for student to converse with native speakers. Often, these individuals only ask that you help them in learning English, too. This type of learning doesn’t just help you develop a skill but even assist someone to develop theirs. It’s not just through video calls, too, but joining forums and exchanging emails with other learners are good ways to learn about something.

These are merely four of the hundreds of ways a learner can utilize technology. But with these four, a boundless amount of knowledge is already at your disposal.
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About the author: Ella Myers is Creative Writing graduate from New York City. She’s a freelance writer for Bestessay, and by next year, she hopes to finish her romance novel.

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Best Ways to Use Technology for Learning

Recently, technology changed our everyday life. Almost each human habitant of the word can’t leave without modern gadgets. By using gadgets – people communicate and keep in touch with their friends and relatives, they run business and learn.

With Internet and IT technologies learning process becomes easier and more fascinating. Among different kinds of learning process it is worth mentioning how the IT technologies affected the process of writing assignments.

Of course, one of the most visible pro of the IT technologies is online libraries. From now on, students don’t have to spend their time in libraries. Instead, sitting in a cozy chair at home, one can go to an online library and choose the literature that fits the assignment.

Besides online books, most newspapers and journals have online versions so it is easy to find something interesting that will be relevant to the topic. In this case Google is your best friend. Multiple archives of newspaper’s and journal’s articles can become of great help and one does not have to spend time travelling half across the city to get to such records.

Online dictionaries are of great help not only for high school and college students, but for any person who needs to write an assignment for any learning institution, any sort of application or even a resume. Besides dictionaries, online/built in grammar checker is one of the best tools that is worth mentioning.  Grammar checkers are being improved year after year and that makes it very useful. It can check spelling errors, grammar mistakes and even punctuation and plagiarism.

With the growth of IT technologies it is almost impossible to hand in a plagiarized paper. In the world wide web there is a great number of software that helps you detect plagiarism and even tell you how to property cite it.

Without a doubt for any essay basics, the development of IT technologies enriched the opportunities of anyone who starts writing a paper. With the era of Internet and modern gadgets anyone can cut the time spent on research and writing itself, spending the spare time for something or someone more important in their life.

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