Online Reflection
Introduction
The internet is a resource readily available to anyone who can access it. It has an advantage in that it includes worldwide information and serves to solve many problems, both simple and complex. The World Wide Web provides a wide range of information which I come across on purpose or not, but which is always of benefit to me (Brin, 2007).
Advantages of Participating in Online Tasks
Conducting academic research in a library book is good. However, for single disciplines that require comparison of works and much general information, the internet is far much more effective in research because it contains information integrated from several disciplines. Availability of current information is also another factor that makes online research more effective and informative in such disciplines as Psychology, Sociology and medical sciences. As much as there is the danger of encountering incredible information on the web, relying on known researchers and websites guarantees accurate research results.
The availability of much information has exposed me to a lot of information in my field of study, even that which I am not searching for at that moment. In my research on business corporate responsibility, I bumped into practical examples of companies that had violated the code of conduct and the results of such irresponsibility. Had I been using the book, I would have gathered information on corporate responsibility. However, I would not have got to know more about companies that did not practice corporate responsibility and my scope of general knowledge would be limited. This is not to mean that books are not useful. It means for knowledge purposes, one needs to read wider and know what is happening in the world.
Skills Gained Through Undertaking Online Tasks
The internet has much information and browsing without a specific scope of research in mind, drowning in cyber space is inevitable. This necessitated I develop the principle of focus so that I may stick to the topic for maximum results of my study, and within the shortest period. This is necessary to avoid getting overwhelmed by the amount of information available on the internet.
Discipline is also among the skills learned through online research. Lack of discipline results in a deviation and this leads to wastage of time and the possibility of not accomplishing the intended task. Such discipline is needed for my future career where I will manage to carry out intended tasks without deviating even when the temptation is intense.
Online research has also equipped me with improved content analysis and organizational techniques without plagiarism. The temptation to copy and paste is very possible. However, with the grammar checkers available online, correcting one’s paper has been made possible and easier. This has increased my grammar skills.
Conclusion
The advantages of using the internet for academic research far outweigh the disadvantages. The knowledge and skills learned by this last a lifetime and online research should be encouraged. Training of people on how to use the internet for research is also needed. For example, there are sites that favor graphics more and load pictures faster and easier (Harris, 2007).
References
Brin, S. P. (2007). The Anatomy of a Large-scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine. Retrieved March 25, 2014, from The Anatomy of a Large-scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine: <http://infolab.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html>
Harris, R. (2007). Evaluating Internet Resources. . Retrieved November 10 , 2010, from Online at VirtualSalt: <http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm>
