Updated Educational Information Including Online Libraries

Up-to-date information is easily found these days. Effortlessly, one can have the most recent information relevant to them at their fingertips. This is all possible with the help of Information Technology (IT). 
IT provides a basis for online libraries which are easily accessible that anyone can have information in no time. It serves as a resource for people to get up-to-date information. Therefore, one can educate themselves through the internet without any actual help from a physical institution or teacher. 
WITS itself uses an online library service for students who need quick access to textbooks for assignments, work etc.

IT in education is becoming more common and actually a “need” nowadays. Students, teachers, alumni and more use technology to make their learning and teaching more efficient, thus making their lives easier. In education, people can access the internet and other resources such as e-books, videos, websites, news etc. that assist them in learning in an environment that interests them.

Work can get done quickly and accurately and skills are learnt by using IT in education.  For example, the SA iPads for schools project gives students a chance to use technology in the classroom, thus assisting them in their future careers.

However, the question remains; how do we know if this information is up-to-date or not? The internet is a vast source of information that is either factual, false, opinion-based etc. There is no way of knowing what is really up-to-date and relevant to us. An example is that of wikis since many of them are opinion-based and anyone can edit it.

In my opinion, even though one has so much access to resources such as books from online libraries, one must make their own decision to sort out this information through instinct and skill which can be developed through more practice. IT has its pros and cons but I believe it can make the world a better place for humanity.

Author : Zainab Mohammed

Editor  : Adelia Mokhera

Links and References:

http://www.core.co.za/ipad-education/

https://prezi.com/mbovazewn3g9/edtech-9-useful-educational-tools-to-engage-communicate-and-keep-up-to-date-in-the-academic-environment/

http://www.wales.ac.uk/en/OnlineLibrary/OnlineLibrary.aspx

WikiEducator (2009) Need and importance of IT in education [Online] Available from:

http://wikieducator.org/Need_and_Importance_of_Information_Technology_in_Education  [Accessed 25^th April 2016]

Fedena (2015) Role of IT in education [Online] Available from:

http://www.fedena.com/blog/2015/10/the-role-of-information-technology-in-education.html  [Accessed 25^th April 2016]

Open University (2010) What is the online library? [Online] Available from:

http://www.open.ac.uk/library/library-videos/what-is-the-online-library  [Accessed 26^th April 2016]