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The Internet is a computer
network linking millions of computers and small networks across the
world. With the Internet, computers have become a powerful tool for communication.
The Internet is a means of
communication – email, banking, virtual reality, software downloading etc
The Internet is sometimes described
as cyberspace because when people are online, they are in a virtual world. Williams
and McKeown (1996) define Internet as a place that contains communities of people who
choose to record some of their knowledge and history as the information archives of the
World Wide Web.
Nowadays, many institutions of higher education in North America, Europe, Australia, and
Japan are connected to the Internet, and some in almost all countries are connected to the
Internet.
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Internet
contains many things |
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Communities of People |
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Information Archives |
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Email
Lists
Newsgroups |
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WWW sites
Other formats for information
FTP and Gopher |
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How Much Does It Cost to Use the Internet?
The Internet is free for
individual users, though the organization that provides it may charge for the time, the
number of log-ins, or the right to use it, plus you may have to pay for the use of their
computer and the telephone.
What Can You Do with the Internet?
A. E-mail
Using the Internet, you can
send e-mail (electronic mail) to anyone who is connected to it. You can send/receive
letters, drawings or photos, sound and even video, if your computer has such capabilities.
B. Using Distant Computers
as Your Own Computer
The Internet makes possible
to use computers far away from the user. Through my e-mail account at Ozemail, I can read
e-mail at my home address or my business address or when on holiday in a foreign country.
I can send e-mail from this address, too. As long as you get authorization, you can use
computers that are connected to the Internet.
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One of the most useful ways
to use this capability is to use the computer in a distant library to search their
computer catalogue. You can connect to computers of many major libraries in the world.
C. Discussion Lists
There are many discussion
lists (sometimes called mailing lists or just lists. They are usually free to join
(subscribe to). From a central computer, anything members send to the list is distributed
to all other members. People send questions, opinions, announcements, responses, and other
information of interest to members to the list. |
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| D. The
Internet as a Library
As we explained, the
Internet is more powerful than telephone as a communication method. It is also more useful
for researchers, teachers and students. Its features include:
 | Many resources
(Lightbulbs contain more detail)
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| The Internet is like a huge
library. |
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| The Internet allows the use
of multiple media and can provide information with not only texts, but also photos, sound,
and videos. |
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| It is your responsibility
to evaluate each resource on the Internet. |
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| Searching for information
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Some world wide web sites
are used to search for information, such as mailing lists, lists related to languages, or
a particular list or web page. You can search ERIC documents through the Internet. If you
use world wide web sites and lists, you can find a great deal of useful information.
| Obtaining
information
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You can read or download
many articles of newspapers, magazines, and TV news.
Many World Wide Web sites
post useful information, announcements, papers, publications, etc. Some sites have
teaching materials. You can read them or download them. In many cases, if you have a
question, you can send e-mail and get an answer fairly quickly.
| Otaining files
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FTP or
File Transfer Protocol is a protocol or language which allows files to be transferred over
between computers using modems or via the Internet. An FTP client program such as
CUTE-FTP, WS_FTP Pro or FETCH-FTP is used to handle the file transfers. FTP is used
to upload web sites.
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Ways
of using Internet |
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Listening/Receiving |
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Contributing |
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Business |
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Receiving Email
Listening to lists
Looking at sites
Receiving files |
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Sending Email
Talking on lists
Publishing
Sending files |
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Online Shopping
Online Banking
E-Business |
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Guidelines for using the Internet
Read The Ten Commandments for Computer Ethics
from the Computer Ethics Institute. |
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