One of the most important advantages of the Internet in the area of information inquiry is the increased accessibility of reference materials and data for all categories of educators, allowing users with any hardware and software to derive the necessary information from the network, independently from the location of data and knowledge bases. From the international point of view, there is a possibility to decrease the gap in the quality and quantity of information provided for education between developed and developing countries. Some researches note that development experiences in one country can be useful in other countries; for recipient countries the trick is to discover similar projects and relevant information that could be useful to them.
We must underline that the integration of information resources from different countries and regions leads not only to increased accessibility, but also to the quantitative growth and qualitative diversity of the remotely delivered information, with no need for each educational institution and single user to acquire and maintain expensive and complicated equipment required for placement of large quantities of information.
The digital form of representation of information on the Internet and the continual growth in the efficiency of equipment has made it possible to process and distribute via the network not only texts, but also images, audio and video records. Thus, Internet virtual libraries gradually transform to multimedia, or digital, libraries.
Telephony also provides instant connection, but it is limited by the requirement for synchronous communication. Asynchrony of e-mail makes it possible to receive and send messages at any convenient time, which is especially important in the situation when correspondent and respondent are located in different time zones. This characteristic of the communication allows an increase, compared to synchronous communication, in the quality of interaction between the learner and the teacher, owing to the time lag the learner has for processing the messages.
A direct consequence of this consists in the change of the role of a teacher, which is not eliminated in highly automated Internet-applications of the considered type, but is transformed from the role of a unique source of information and pedagogical effects into the role of a guide in the sea of information given by the Internet, and of a creator (designer) of situations oriented toward the educational process.
At the same time the technological difficulties of Web-applications in the field of education frequently present an obstacle for teaching. The Internet-technologies and particular software applications (e.g. teleconferencing systems), supporting this type are not of an affordable price for educational organizations, since these products were originally developed for business. They are also relatively complex for non-specialists and, finally, are platform-dependent (this limits the sphere of their application). So, in the sphere of distance education the students and teachers frequently face the problem of adjustment of specialised software for access to the Internet. The disadvantages of a network infrastructure of educational institutions strongly influence the learning efficiency. Mistakes in the selection of equipment and types of communications made by the administration and technical experts result in the fact that the students experience difficulties in connecting with the server.
The educational community is facing acute technological problems in the field of Internet usage:
· low throughput of the existing Internet channels;
· incompatibility of protocols and programming languages;
· poor support of audio- and video-flows in a real time mode;
· low interactivity level compared to teaching multimedia on CD-ROM;
· difficulties in conducting WWW séances of “one-to-multitude” communicative type;
· poor control over information representation formats on client computers and insufficient ability to manage these processes in time.
What are the technological issues of the Internet from the perspective of ICTs? Answers could include a definition of the Internet, standard architecture and protocols, components, applications, existing technological problems and possible future improvements. Broadband Internet is entering the scenario and acclaimed with great enthusiasm. Broadband will expand the reach and improve the quality of Internet interactions. Industry, commerce, business, recreation, defense, education and many more sectors will be harnessing the Internet. There is a danger that some groups will wish to control the Internet to their advantage. We have to see that educational services are not limited. UN bodies and the respective countries have to play their roles for centre-staging the educational requirements of the Internet.
We must underline that the integration of information resources from different countries and regions leads not only to increased accessibility, but also to the quantitative growth and qualitative diversity of the remotely delivered information, with no need for each educational institution and single user to acquire and maintain expensive and complicated equipment required for placement of large quantities of information.
The digital form of representation of information on the Internet and the continual growth in the efficiency of equipment has made it possible to process and distribute via the network not only texts, but also images, audio and video records. Thus, Internet virtual libraries gradually transform to multimedia, or digital, libraries.
Telephony also provides instant connection, but it is limited by the requirement for synchronous communication. Asynchrony of e-mail makes it possible to receive and send messages at any convenient time, which is especially important in the situation when correspondent and respondent are located in different time zones. This characteristic of the communication allows an increase, compared to synchronous communication, in the quality of interaction between the learner and the teacher, owing to the time lag the learner has for processing the messages.
A direct consequence of this consists in the change of the role of a teacher, which is not eliminated in highly automated Internet-applications of the considered type, but is transformed from the role of a unique source of information and pedagogical effects into the role of a guide in the sea of information given by the Internet, and of a creator (designer) of situations oriented toward the educational process.
At the same time the technological difficulties of Web-applications in the field of education frequently present an obstacle for teaching. The Internet-technologies and particular software applications (e.g. teleconferencing systems), supporting this type are not of an affordable price for educational organizations, since these products were originally developed for business. They are also relatively complex for non-specialists and, finally, are platform-dependent (this limits the sphere of their application). So, in the sphere of distance education the students and teachers frequently face the problem of adjustment of specialised software for access to the Internet. The disadvantages of a network infrastructure of educational institutions strongly influence the learning efficiency. Mistakes in the selection of equipment and types of communications made by the administration and technical experts result in the fact that the students experience difficulties in connecting with the server.
The educational community is facing acute technological problems in the field of Internet usage:
· low throughput of the existing Internet channels;
· incompatibility of protocols and programming languages;
· poor support of audio- and video-flows in a real time mode;
· low interactivity level compared to teaching multimedia on CD-ROM;
· difficulties in conducting WWW séances of “one-to-multitude” communicative type;
· poor control over information representation formats on client computers and insufficient ability to manage these processes in time.
What are the technological issues of the Internet from the perspective of ICTs? Answers could include a definition of the Internet, standard architecture and protocols, components, applications, existing technological problems and possible future improvements. Broadband Internet is entering the scenario and acclaimed with great enthusiasm. Broadband will expand the reach and improve the quality of Internet interactions. Industry, commerce, business, recreation, defense, education and many more sectors will be harnessing the Internet. There is a danger that some groups will wish to control the Internet to their advantage. We have to see that educational services are not limited. UN bodies and the respective countries have to play their roles for centre-staging the educational requirements of the Internet.
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