I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I was in my undergraduate courses when the World Wide Web was being introduced. Ever since then the Internet has played a major role in my education, either through what now is as simple as email, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, to blogging. It seems that Whelan (2003) was correct in predicting that the blogosphere would continue to expand unabated. Lingard (2015) lists eight uses for blogs in higher education, from commentary and expert analysis to collaborative authoring.
According to the article by Williams and Jacobs (2004), they concluded that blogging has the potential to be a transformation technology for teaching and learning, and that blogs have become a product of convenience rather than design. I would have to extend this to the Internet in general as well. Life can get very busy with work, school, family, and extracurricular activities, the Internet can help someone stay connected in many ways. For example, as a certified athletic trainer (ATC) the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) site has been very useful in assisting with maintaining my certification by allowing on-line courses and quizzes to count for continuing education credit. Through the NATA's quiz center an ATC can select topics of their choice and really tailor their on-line continuing education to their liking/interests. I know for myself some of my interests are within emergency preparedness and functional rehabilitation. I can either search for courses or topics by either Ron Courson or Gary Gray.
Although one has to be careful by purely relying on the Internet for learning. There something to be said for hands-on application, otherwise known as getting your hands dirty. The Internet is a great starting point to begin to build a solid foundation. To fully master, for example, a certain soft tissue mobilization technique an ATC needs to be able to practice and hone this type of skill.
According to the article by Williams and Jacobs (2004), they concluded that blogging has the potential to be a transformation technology for teaching and learning, and that blogs have become a product of convenience rather than design. I would have to extend this to the Internet in general as well. Life can get very busy with work, school, family, and extracurricular activities, the Internet can help someone stay connected in many ways. For example, as a certified athletic trainer (ATC) the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) site has been very useful in assisting with maintaining my certification by allowing on-line courses and quizzes to count for continuing education credit. Through the NATA's quiz center an ATC can select topics of their choice and really tailor their on-line continuing education to their liking/interests. I know for myself some of my interests are within emergency preparedness and functional rehabilitation. I can either search for courses or topics by either Ron Courson or Gary Gray.
Although one has to be careful by purely relying on the Internet for learning. There something to be said for hands-on application, otherwise known as getting your hands dirty. The Internet is a great starting point to begin to build a solid foundation. To fully master, for example, a certain soft tissue mobilization technique an ATC needs to be able to practice and hone this type of skill.