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English Club of Antsirabe

INTERNET AS AN ACADEMIC RESOURCE

RANAIVOSON Heritovo

09thApril 2016

This essay would not have been finished without the help of some
people. So, I would like to thank first of all the Lord for giving me time,
courage and health that I needed for finishing my study. Then, I want to give
my sincere thanks to ECA teachers who guided me during all this time; and
also Mr.Efrain GONZALEZ and Mrs.Elonore RAHARIMIADANA for their
teaching

and

advice.

Finally,

am

particularly

grateful

for

the

encouragements and the supports from my family and my friends during my


study at ECA

Thank you!!!

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................i

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................. . 1
PART-ONE. GENERALITIES .......................................................................... 2
Chapter-1.

INTERNET NETWORK ............................................................ 2

1.1.

Beginning ................................................................................................ 2

1.2.

Internet Today ......................................................................................... 3

1.3.

Accessibility ............................................................................................ 3

Chapter-2.
2.1.

SEARCH ENGINE .................................................................. 5

History ........................................................................................................ 5

2.1.1.

Yahoo Search .......................................................................... 5

2.1.2.

Lycos ....................................................................................... 6

2.1.3.

Google ..................................................................................... 6

2.1.4.

Ask ........................................................................................... 7

2.2.

Functioning ................................................................................................. 8

PART-TWO.

INTERNET EXPLORATION..................................................... 9

Chapter-3.

WEBSITE ................................................................................. 9

3.1.

World Wide Web or WWW.......................................................................... 9

3.2.

Using the Web for Academic Research ...................................................... 9

3.3.

Checking the validity of information found on the web ...............................10

Chapter-4.

EXPLORATION METHODS................................................... 11

4.1.

The Fundamental Human Rights and Internet ...........................................11

4.2.

Searching Strategies .................................................................................12

4.3.

Assessing Search Results .........................................................................14

4.3.1.

Performing a Search .............................................................. 14

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4.3.2.

Related Searches .................................................................. 15

4.3.3.

Advertisements ...................................................................... 16

4.3.4.

Improving Searches ............................................................... 16

PART-THREE. ONLINE STUDYING ............................................................. 19


Chapter-5.

LEARNING VIA INTERNET ................................................... 19

5.1.

Tools for learning online ............................................................................19

5.2.

Learning Methods ...................................................................................21

5.2.1.

Analyze of the project ............................................................ 21

5.2.2.

Practices ................................................................................ 22

Chapter-6.
6.1.

SAFETY WARNING ............................................................... 23

Problems with research today ....................................................................23

6.1.1.

File sharing ............................................................................ 23

6.1.2.

Online education problems .................................................... 25

6.2.

Data securities ...........................................................................................25

6.2.1.

Encryption .............................................................................. 25

6.2.2.

Social Networking .................................................................. 26

6.2.3.

Network Service ..................................................................... 26

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................. 29

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Technology, in this century, develops very quickly. It affords entirely


new tools and possibilities for advancing teaching and learning practices.
One fruit of these developments is the INTERNET, which has made
peoples daily lives easier. The use of the Internet in the educational
environment has enabled easy access to many resources. Information
sharing has significantly increased.
With the existence of the internet, peoples learning ways have also
changed: people is leaving the time of traditional learning in classrooms
because they think that everything can be done via online studying. This
statement can be confusing sometimes; and the worst is that it can be
erroneous.
In purpose to give an explanation about that, this essay entitled
INTERNET AS AN ACADEIMIC RESOURCE will be developed into three
parts. The first part will focus on the generalities about the internet and its
environments. Then, the second part will talk about the way to explore the
internet. And finally, the third part will concern the online study.

PART-ONE.

GENERALITIES

The World Wide Web offers information from all over the world. It is
useful for all ages and for all purposes. Thus, the Web can also be useful for
academic research.
My purpose in this chapter is to describe the internet network. First, I
give some information about its beginning, then the Internet nowadays, and
last an explanation about the access to it. The second chapter is mainly
concerned with the search engines. It is organized in two sections: its history
and its functioning.

Chapter-1.

INTERNET NETWORK

The Internet is a network of network that connects users to different countries


in the world. There are currently over one billion Internet users worldwide. It
is a conglomerate of networks owned by no one, either individual or group.
1.1.

Beginning

Starting like a war strategy in 1969 during the Cold War, the
Americans started a new way to communicate between themselves. They
called it TCP/IP or Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. This
protocol used a package system: every message that we want to send
should be divided in many packets for being transmitted being reconstituted
at the destination. But why did the Americans want to innovate their means of
communications?
In 1950, the American government looked for something to protect
them from the Russian nuclear attacks. In 1964, the Rand Corporation found
a solution. A researcher named Paul Baran suggested to create a network
without a managing center. It would help them communicate and make war
strategies. Then, they established interlinked nodes. The purpose was that if
one of these nodes was destroyed, the network would still work, so the
communication would not be over.
At the beginning, a department in the Ministry of Defense called the
Advanced Research Projects Agency or ARPA financed a project to interlink
companies, researchers in the universities and the Ministry itself. So in 1969,
2

the Arpanet was born, with four nodes. In 1970, the researchers changed
Arpanet into a new network between colleagues where they talked between
themselves about works and exchange advice.
Two years later, in 1972, other universities tried to connect on the
network. Then everyone wanted to share their researches or their
experiences on it. So every university became a node.
Internet was really opened for public in 1992 by the technology of World
Wide Web or WWW.
1.2.

Internet Today

Now, with the spread of the democratic lifestyle and the amazing
technological progress, we all witness of the existence of a parallel world of
unlimited communication that takes an increasing part of our daily routine
with the only purpose of facilitating our lives.
The dynamic and user-friendly interface of the Internet as we know it
today was breathed into life on a multi-layer global network system that
connects hundreds of millions of computers. This broad system is comprised
of using the networks in different parts like serving private, public, business,
academic and government purposes. That allows data exchanging between
more than a hundred users. This makes the Internet an enormous carrier of
various types of information, such as text and multi-media data, email, online
chat, VoIP, file transfer and file sharing, ecommerce, online gaming, etc.
1.3.

Accessibility

Every day, millions of people exchange information through the


Internet, but what exactly is it? It is a worldwide collection of computer
networks, cooperating with each other to exchange information using
common standards. Through telephone wires, fiber optic cables, wireless
transmissions and satellite links, Internet users can exchange information in
a variety of forms.
Several major international organizations help manage the Internet so that
everyone uses the same rules. Some of the main organizations that help
manage and develop the internet are: ISOC, IAB, IETF, IRTF, and IANA.
The question is how we could connect to it.

Any home, business or organization that wants to connect to the


Internet must use an Internet Service Provider - ISP. An ISP is a company
that provides the connections and supports to access the Internet. It can also
provide additional services such as Email and web hosting.
ISPs are essential to get access to the Internet. So, no one gets on the
Internet without a host computer, and no one gets on the Internet without
going through an ISP. Here in Madagascar, we have three ISPs: TELMA,
ORANGE and AIRTEL.

Sources: Internet and ISP


/The Internet Book/ Comer, Douglas

ISPs differ in the types of connection technologies and speeds they offer. For
example, TELMA uses the latest technology 4G LTE.

Chapter-2.

SEARCH ENGINE

In general, using a search engine is a natural extension of using the


Internet. With the World Wide Web, search engines were created to help
navigate through collection of webpages
2.1.

History

Search engines have come and gone over the years, and many are
still in operation. The most popular search engines have changed and
defined the way that people understand the Internet.
Several search engines marked the evolution of the World Wide Web.
We can name:
Archie created in 1990, was the first search engine,
Excite created in January 1993,
World Wide Web Wanderer created in June 1993,
Aliweb created in October 1993,
Infoseek created in January 1994.
But all of these did not yet give the best results and had lots of limits.
The first search engine which allows the natural-language search
queries was AltaVista created in 1995; the users for the first time, could
simply type what they were looking for, instead of using query strings. It also
indexed much more than the other Webs, and was one of the first search
engines to use Boolean operators like: And, Or, No to facilitate the research.
Latter, some other search engines were born and proved to be smarter than
the older ones: Yahoo search, Lycos, Google.
2.1.1. Yahoo Search
Yahoo Search was one of the most recognizable search engine
names. In the early days, Yahoo's search was just a front end for results that
came from other web crawlers. It was not until 2003 that Yahoo became its
own self-crawling search engine. Some of the companies that powered
yahoo were Inktomi and Google. Ironically, Google would later become its
biggest competitor. In addition, Yahoo purchased several search engine
companies: Inktomi, AlltheWeb, and Overture which owned AltaVista.

One of Yahoo's biggest contributions to search was its directory


services: creating a large directory of authoritative sites used for their search
results. Yahoo itself started as a directory of webpages without using a web
crawler. Yahoo Directory was not the first, but it was possibly the largest.
Yahoo Search introduced a number of elements that many search
engines still use. It allowed for vertical search results, which is a search
within a specific category. A person could run a search just for images, just
for news, and various other categories. Yahoo Search is still in operation, but
just like in the past, another search company like Bing, powers the search
results.
2.1.2. Lycos
Lycos started as a research project and it launched in 1994. It became
the most popular Web destination by 1999. The main reason of its popularity
as a search engine was its huge catalog of indexed documents. By the end
of 1996, Lycos had more indexed pages than any other search engine. As a
company, it owned many other companies and sites. As a search engine, it
still exists today.
2.1.3. Google
By the end of 90s, Google was launched as a product of a university
research project. It was started as an exercise in understanding how
webpages linked to each other. From this idea came the PageRank
algorithm.
Page ranking is one of the most important developments in search. A
page rank is based on how many sites link back to it. The more popular the
sites link, the more relevant the page will be. Google's web crawler also
indexes a tremendous number of sites. As Google gained in popularity, other
search engines began to decline.
Over the years, Google has become synonymous with the practice of
searching on the Internet. Nowadays, it is the most used search engine.
Thus, the word Google became a verb which means to look for something
on internet.

Source: The Most used Search Engine


/How Google work/ John Murray/ 2014

2.1.4. Ask
Ask.com started as Ask Jeeves before. The search engine operated
on a question and answer platform, where users could ask questions using
natural language and the search engine would find the answers. One of its
main contributions to search is its own page-ranking algorithm.
Instead of Google PageRank, Ask uses ExpertRank. The latter works
with subject-specific popularity: if a website on a specific subject has
backlinks from other sites on the same subject, then it is more relevant. Ask
eventually stopped focusing on search. It still exists as a search engine, but
its core product is a searchable database of questions answered by users.

Source: Some Old Search Engines


/How Google work/ John Murray/ 2014

2.2.

Functioning

A search engine is an online service that helps to find easily a page by


using keywords. It takes the keywords and returns Search Engine Results
Pages or SERP which contain lists of sites corresponding to the keywords.
It works through lots of servers called crawlers or robots or also
spiders. These go through the sites following the links of a billion web pages
and indexing the results in a giant data base for being interrogated.
Users of search engine write the keywords. The search engine
specifies these words by using Boolean operators like + or and checks its
data base for any keywords. Then it tries to take away the non-relevant
pages. Then, it returns the SERP with page links. The users can choose the
convenient pages from the list.
We have seen that the Internet since its creation has helped people.
At the beginning, it was not really easy to use it. But over the years, everyone
has learned personal ways through browsers and other tools like search
engines; everyone tries to get benefits through internet, especially the
researchers and the students who, nowadays, prefer to stay in front of their
laptops instead of going to a library.
So, the question is how to get benefits from internet? Some basic
knowledge in making a research through the WWW is necessary. For getting
more information about that, we are going to talk about how to explore the
internet in the second part of this essay.
.

PART-TWO. INTERNET EXPLORATION


Exploring internet means trying to get information via some internet
applications, such as the World Wide Web, e-mail, FTP or File transfer
protocol, etc. So let us focus on the ways to use them efficiently.
I will develop this part in two chapters: in the first chapter, I will talk about the
website then in the second part, I will give some details about exploring on
line data. I will start by giving more information about how to use a website in
good ways. Then, I will present some kind of ways to explore the internet
correctly as simple searchers or students or also in other fields.

Chapter-3.

WEBSITE

A website is a collection of Web pages, images, videos that are hosted


on one or several Web servers, usually accessible via Internet or a LANLocal Area Network or also a WAN Wide Area Network. There are two
types of website: static sites and dynamic sites. The dynamic sites use a
data base to store information.
3.1.

World Wide Web or WWW

A World Wide Web is a large network of internet servers that provides


services to terminals which run client software as a web browser. It is
important to point out that the Internet does not have the same meaning with
the World Wide Web. Both terms are increasingly used as synonyms,
although this is not correct from a technical point of view. The reason for this
common misunderstanding is that the World Wide Web is the most popular
Internet application today. Anyway, you should be able to distinguished both
terms, knowing that the World Wide Web represents the huge set of
interlinked texts, documents, images and other resources presented on the
websites, while the Internet provides the physical environment for the web to
exist.
3.2.

Using the Web for Academic Research

The biggest advantage in using the World Wide Web as a source for
research is that it lets us look at specific topics with a chance to have another

view in other things. Due to the large volume of published literature in the
libraries, researchers have had a tendency to stay within their own fields
when they search for references. By using WWW, they may restrict
themselves to their own fields and have a little idea of the kind of studies in
other disciplines that may be helpful. In looking for information on the Web,
searches are often more general in nature, which may bring information that
otherwise may not have caught the users attention.
Another advantage in using the Web for academic research is the
ability to gain access to the most current information. Since studies can take
months -or years- to get published, data can be outdated by the time it
reaches the shelves of our libraries. Direct access to current information
increases the effectiveness of scientists in their search for information in their
areas of interest. Thus, the Word Wide Web has made it possible for
individuals to contact researchers quite easily by using e-mail or social
networks. This ease of communication is a tremendous advantage for
amateurs researchers. It helps to get valuable advice or guidance from the
original source of information on the Web.
The only challenge using the Web for academic research is the
overwhelming amount of information that is available. One can easily get lost
in the infinite amount of titles, abstracts and texts. It is helpful to keep a piece
of paper that states exactly what we are looking for it to keep focus on the
relevant information.
3.3.

Checking the validity of information found on the

web
It is always important to ask where the information comes from. Check
the name of the author of the document and go to the end of the document
and cross -check the validity of the information with others sources in internet
or in hard copies.
Checking the 'domain' in the URL of a document may be very
important. Although, many people assume that documents from domains with
".edu", ".org" or ".gov" are from more legitimate sources than documents
from ".com," all documents found on the Web need to be authenticated.

10

Documents appearing in legitimate Web are probably the most reliable. But a
researcher needs to confirm the accuracy and source of all information
appearing on the World Wide Web.
If other studies are referenced in the document, always verify them by
checking traditional printed books and journal articles in a library or other
information resources on the Internet.
This chapter has given some keys about the information on the Web. The
chapter will indicate the ways to use Internet for getting information quickly.

Chapter-4.

EXPLORATION METHODS

Currently, peoples daily lives are greatly influenced by information


technologies like computers and the web. In the mid-2005, there were more
than 11.5 billion pages on indexable websites. New webpages appear at the
rate

of

8%

week.

However, the increasing number of webpage has also brought problems


such as information overload, disorientation, and decreased information
quality.
Although plentiful information can be accessed on the web, there is no
guarantee to its validity and reliability in any way. Therefore, in order to
successfully find useful information on the web, users need to consider well
of their searching strategies to generate better outcomes.
4.1.

The Fundamental Human Rights and Internet

The evolution of the science of telecommunication obliged users to


establish some rules because data on the internet became bigger every time.
But over the years, these rules have not been really followed for few reasons:
The evolution of the technology went faster than the rights. The latter
have some trouble to comply with the evolution of sciences. Then,
some old rules have been broken.
The discovery of the technology Peer-To-Peer is a proof about this. It
allows everyone to share any of the files - music, video, documents
it means that everyone becomes a server. This situation has broken

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the fundamental rule of internet: everyone should not share a product


without permission from the original company or author.
However, this technology does not care about this: even if the
products are not free everyone can get them.
The rights about computer sciences are so confused and it is so
difficult for users to distinguish what is allowed and what is not. This
matter can be illustrated by a few examples. If someone illegally
downloads music, he is aware that this is a bad act. On the other side,
some hackers collect electronic addresses without any authorization
from the owners, and yet they do not feel that it is forbidden. So no
one knows what exactly the good rules are.
The rules have become more confusing over the years and over the
evolution of the TIC- Technology of Information and Communication
Nevertheless, we should keep in mind the copyright rules: when we make
research on the Internet, we are not authorized to change any documents or
data without permission from the author.
4.2.

Searching Strategies

These strategies are defined to guide the users in his works and to
use the existing research tools efficiently.
They help select information and avoid waste times in a tremendous variety
of data.
These strategies can be explained in six steps:
Step 1
When we do research. It should be important to analyze precisely what kind
of information we are looking for. It consists to take notes, to write all the
tasks and goals.
Step 2
We can prepare our research. This task is illustrated by few points:
Circle the exact topic in all the fields: history, sociology,
economy, education, etc. It can be useful for handling better

12

the topic and thinking about the tools used during the
research.
Define the goals of the research: represent states, and
develop idea or a report.
Fix limits: time limits, geography limits, the language limits.
We should think about all the circumstances that can trouble
the work.
Determine the keywords: make a list about all the words
which could be in relation with the topic; it facilitates the
research on the internet.
Step 3
Choose sources which are appropriate for the research: books, articles,
experts comment about the topic, reports, etc.
Step 4
Mark the useful documents: check all the keywords and specify the suitable
data.
Step 5
Evaluating the data: how relevant are the documents and how about their
qualities?
The pertinence checks the difference between the goals and the results of
the research: is it interesting? The information that I want, are they there?
Are they recent?
The quality of information can be checked through some critics: the author,
its notoriety, the type of the document commercial, journalistic, etc - , the
quality of the content and its structuring.
Step 6
Treating the results, it means to order the results in function of the goals. It is
an evaluation of the final results of the research. We are checking at this
moment if the research has been successful or not.
For more comprehension on these steps, the next picture shows the cycle for
online research projects.
13

Source: Cycle of Research Project on Internet/Academic Research


Resources/Free Online Academic Resources

4.3.

Assessing Search Results

When the research is done, glance over the first page of search
results and see if it responds to the demand.
If the search results do not seem satisfying, the user may need to try other
search terms. Remembering that, the search engine cannot read the mind; it
just looks for matching words. For example, if the word polish is typed, the
search engine does not know whether we are looking for shoe polish or a
history of the Polish language.
The search could be improved by putting shoe polish. However, this still
may return a variety of websites, including:

Stores that sell shoe polish

Guides on how to polish shoes

The history of shoe polish

To get better and more relevant results, through a research we should be


asking ourselves: "What exactly am I looking for?"
4.3.1. Performing a Search

14

There are numerous search engines, but the most popular ones are
Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Each one has its own unique features, but the
process of a search is similar.
Many browsers have a built-in search bar. Most of the time, it is located on
the top right of the address bar. To perform a search, just type the keys known as search terms - in the search bar, then press Enter. The browser
will then take you to the search engine's website to show the search results,
which is a list of all of the websites that contain the search terms.

Source: Search Bar in a Search Engine


/Heritovo/Internet as academic resources/2016

4.3.2. Related Searches


A search engine often recommends related searches that may be
more specific than the search terms used. Related searches are usually
listed at the bottom of the page. Bing also lists them to the left of the search
results.

15

Source: Related Searches on Google


/ Heritovo/Internet as academic resources/2016

4.3.3. Advertisements
Search engines may include advertisements with the search results.
They are chosen by the search engine based on the search terms, and they
look a lot like the actual search results. While they may be useful in some
cases, it is usually more effective to focus on regular search results.
Google puts them at the top right of search results.
4.3.4. Improving Searches
With search engines, you gain experiences; it is possible to conduct
better and better searches. It becomes quicker and easier to find the right
information. Here are a few tips for improving searches:
Take suggestions: when typing the search terms, the search engine
tries to guess the information, and it shows a list of search
suggestions - which are similar to related searches; they appear
during the typing -. These can give ideas for search terms that we may
not have thought of.
16

Sources: Suggestions from the Search Engine


/Heritovo/Internet as academic resources/2016
Search phrases: put quotes around a phrase so each word in the
phrase is not searched for separately. For example, for "sugar
cookies", the search engine searches for that entire phrase in a
webpage. However, for simply sugar cookies, the search engine
searches for each of the words individually, and it will find recipes for
other types of cookies that have sugar in the ingredients.
Exclude words: Use a hyphen (-) at the beginning of a word to exclude
search results containing it. It is equivalent to NOT. For example,
macaroni -cheese. Note that there is a space before the hyphen, but
not after it. In other words, we can say: macaroni NOT cheese.
Use OR: we can use OR to include either of two search words. For
example, soup recipe tofu OR fish should return recipes for soup that
contain tofu or fish or both. You could also search for soup recipe tofu
OR fish OR chicken OR beef.
Get help: a search engine has a help page for navigating. We can
refer to it in case of trouble.

17

Due to the largeness of information on internet, some strategies to


focus on the topic are required. Practicing and doing are the best way to
learn in that field, especially to get free information from the World Wide
Web. However, most documents found on the Web are not guaranteed.
Under this circumstance, checking some points on the information is
recommended.
On top of that, it is important as well to give a look at the way to study or to
learn via internet. For this case, we are going to talk about on line studies.

18

PART-THREE.

ONLINE STUDYING

The Internet has become an intricate part of today's education. More


and more schools innovate in using the Internet in fields they used to teach
regular classes. It provides classrooms with an enormous amount of
resources from all over the world to students, teachers and media specialists.
All the information, images and computer software can be reached almost
immediately.
This part gives more details about the online study. So, in the first
chapter, I will explain some methods of learning through internet. Then, I am
going to give some advice about the use of internet.

Chapter-5.

LEARNING VIA INTERNET

The Internet carries an extensive range of information, resources and


services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of
the World Wide Web, electronic mail, and peer-to-peer networks for file
sharing.
In other words, it is used to send information quickly between
computers around the world, or other platforms like mobile phones or tablets.
Millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks
and websites, carry together many different kinds of information and
services.
For this reason, learning through the Internet requires some analysis,
and the learners should: establish some rules and some methods.
To get closer to the world of the web, let us talk about the different tools that
used.
5.1.

Tools for learning online

To make a research or a self-study on the Web, some tools are


required.
Firstly, it is evident to use a computer for a few reasons:
For the students:
To collect notes, pictures, and videos from web pages.
To learn through animations,
19

To create videos using images, albums and create


PowerPoint slides.
To simulate Learning
For the teachers:
To instruct the students using PowerPoint slides, Word
documents or Web pages and use hyperlinks for better
concept clarity.
To help in improving the students pronunciation by using
microphones,

headphones,

speakers,

with

specially

prepared software and special dedicated websites.


To do video conferencing, chat and emails which help in
better communication, hence better concept clarity. Also
concept of E-tutor gives access instantly and gives a better
chance to earn.
To encourage the students to surf web pages and gather
relevant detailed information through web pages.
The secondly tool is internet itself. It is a large source of reference
materials and data, required for all types of educational activities in
studying or learning directly, in managing the educational systems, as well as
the scientific and methodical works.
Thirdly, we need a browser. It is the software used to search for and
explore websites. In other words, it is a program for Internet exploring. There
are lots of browsers but the most common are: Internet explorer, Mozilla
Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari.

20

Source: Most used Browsers /Heritovo


/Internet as academic resources/2016

5.2.

Learning Methods

With a variety of documents and tutorials existing on the web, with lots
of discussion about everything and the evolution of the information, making a
self-study or an online training can be tiresome. And sometimes, it is not sure
if the training is guaranteed or not.
Under these circumstances, it is important to establish some types of
work for making a research or a self-study efficient. These rules can be
expressed by:

Analysis

Practical work

Writing report

Final results
5.2.1. Analyze of the project

Analyze
It defines the way to surround the topics, and the goals of the study. It
expresses the final point of the study. What we should use for studying the

21

topic? It defines whether the training will be assisted or a self-study, indicates


also the money required if there is any.
This explanation can be illustrated by one online company named
eLearning.
ELearning utilizes electronic technologies to access education outside of a
traditional classroom. In most cases, it refers to a course, program or degree
completely delivered online. Many terms are used to describe learning such
as delivered online, via the internet, to computerize electronic learning, online
learning, internet learning and many others. We define eLearning as courses
specifically delivered via the internet to somewhere other than the classroom
where the professor is teaching. It is not a course delivered via a DVD or CDROM, video tape or over a television channel. It is interactive in that the
students can also communicate with teachers, professors or other students in
class. Sometimes it is delivered live, where the participant can electronically
raise hand and interact in real time. Sometimes it is a prerecorded lecture.
There is always a teacher or professor interacting or communicating with the
students and grading participation, assignments and tests.
Writing Reports
A report is a specific form of writing that is organized around concisely
identifying and examining issues, events, or findings that have happened in a
physical sense, such as events that have occurred within an organization, or
findings from a research investigation.
After a long time of study, it is important to make a kind of report for
evaluating or for having a look about the states of the study. This report
concerns all the works: study, simulation, traineeship.
The goal of this step is to check the progress of the student.

5.2.2. Practices
Simulations
Students practice all the theories got during the courses: they make
simulations, build projects, and doing exercises. It means tasks in which
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students observe or manipulate real objects or materials, or they witness a


teacher demonstration.
Practical work can:
motivate pupils, by stimulating interest and enjoyment,
teach laboratory skills,
enhance the learning of scientific knowledge ,
give insight into scientific method and develop expertise ,
develop attitudes, such as open-mindedness and objectivity.
Final Results
At the end of the study or the training, we should look at the final
results and evaluate the work: either it is successful or not and how much the
goal is achieved.
All the precious chapters have shown all the benefits and the
advantages from this world of new technology. However, some safety
warnings should be considered carefully.

Chapter-6.

SAFETY WARNING

Research using internet is easier than ever. However, it is frightened


by some problems and requires great discernment to avoid confusion and
misinformation.
The purpose of this last chapter is to show the dangers of the internet
in a field of research. First, I will point out the problems about the data online
today followed by some advice to avoid them. Then I will present the way to
secure the data
6.1.

Problems with research today

Research inside of tremendous variety of data can engender lots of


bad consequences: they can destroy all the research projects and also make
the researchers in bad situations. We can name:
6.1.1. File sharing
File sharing involves using technology that allows internet users to
share files that are housed on their individual computers. Peer-to-peer (P2P)
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softwares, such as those used to share music files, are among of the most
common forms of file-sharing technology. However, P2P softwares introduce
security risks that may put the information or the computer in jeopardy.
The following are a few examples:
Installation of malicious code: With the use P2P softwares, it is
difficult, but not impossible, to verify that the source of the files is
trustworthy. These softwares are often used by hackers to transmit
malicious code. Hackers may incorporate spyware, viruses, Trojan
horses, or worms into the files, the computer becomes infected.
Exposure of personal information: the user may be giving other users
access to his personal information: whether it is because certain
directories are accessible, or because he provides personal
information to what he believes to be a trusted person or organization.
Unauthorized people may be able to access financial or medical data,
personal documents, sensitive corporate information, or other
personal information. Once information has been exposed to
unauthorized people, it is difficult to know how many people have
accessed it. The availability of this information may increase the risk of
identity theft.
Susceptibility to hack: Some P2P software may ask to open certain
ports on the firewall to transmit the files. However, opening some of
these ports may give hackers access to the computer or enable them
to attack the computer by taking advantage of any vulnerabilities that
may exist in the P2P software. Some of these latter can modify and
penetrate firewalls themselves, without the knowledge of the user.
Denial of service: Downloading files causes a significant amount of
traffic over the network. This activity may reduce the availability of
certain programs on the computer or may limit the access to the
internet
Prosecution: Files shared through P2P softwares may include pirated
software, copyrighted material, or pornography. If the user downloads
these, even unknowingly, he may be faced with fines or other legal

24

action. If the computer is on a company network and exposes


customer information, both of the user and the company may be liable.
How can we minimize these risks?
The best way to eliminate these risks is to avoid using P2P softwares.
However, this technology can be used under a few precautions. Some good
security practices can minimize the risk:
Use and maintain anti-virus software: Anti-virus software recognizes
and protects the computer against most known viruses. However,
attackers are continually writing new viruses, so it is important to keep
the anti-virus software updated.
Install or enable a firewall: Firewalls may be able to prevent some
types of infection by blocking malicious traffic before it enters the
computer. Some operating systems actually include a firewall, but you
need to make sure it is enabled.
6.1.2. Online education problems
For a good reason, the Internet is buzzing with positive information
about online education. However, a quick look around the real world clearly
demonstrates that most students are still choosing traditional classes. In fact,
there are some problems about the online education, such as:
Sometimes there is no face-to-face interaction
Requirement for self-discipline
Lack of accreditation and low quality
6.2.

Data securities

As we have seen before, the internet has changed lives in countless


positive ways, but it has a dark side: personal privacy has been lost, leaving
the user at risks from shady individuals.
In this fact, we need to keep safe our data, especially from hackers. Here are
some technics which can help to protect data:
6.2.1. Encryption
Encryption

used

to

be

the

unique

province

of

geeks

and

mathematicians, but a lot has changed in recent years. In particular, various


publicly available tools have taken the rocket science out of encrypting - and
25

decrypting - emails and files. Lots of software is available nowadays for


encrypting files or even encrypting hard disks as bitLocker for example,
which already inside of Windows seven.

6.2.2. Social Networking


The social networks are used commonly these last years for
communicating, sharing, talking instantly and many other things. But what
are the risks about using them? The user posted privacy information which
can be dangerous for his identity. Someone can explore them and use them
for something else.
For avoiding all bad things, users should keep some methods for
being safe, and for not being explored by other persons like: logout accounts
after using a social network, or filter all information that we send.
The user should keep in his mind that every data sharing on social networks
will be seen by the entire world.
6.2.3. Network Service
When the users use a browser, he should make sure that any site
uses HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure - rather than unencrypted
HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol - connections. If he does not, then
anyone nearby can use some software like Firesheep for example to see
everything he is doing.

26

Internet has moved peoples life in another dimension; especially in


the field of education. By the use of websites, the internet has become more
popular and more commonly used these last decades thanks to the evolution
of the web technologies and the creation of new and more modern kinds of
application.
The evolution of the application has brought about many changes in
the way of education. A new library for exchanging and communicating ideas
was provided to students and researchers. With adequate strategies and
appropriate precautions, everyone who wants to learn via internet can get
benefits, can go further in his studies, and so improve his life. But should we
completely trust on the internet for improving our lives?

27

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