The most important thing when carrying out a research process is getting the right information. As such, it is important to identify the most available and most precise sources of information on the topic under discussion. For the assignment on “Online Learning”, I chose to look for the information through the internet. This is mainly because I could easily get the information from this site. I consulted several sites, including the State Press, Reuters and the oedb.org. I figured that these sites would help in giving the information required since they had quite a lot of information as pertained to the online learning. Far from that, the instructions for the assignment were also very clear and precise that the research had to be done through credible sources such as the press, the online sources as well as any other source that could have been seen to be credible. Based on these instructions, I felt that the three sites fulfilled this requirement. Not only did they have the required information but they also fit the criteria provided for the research. It is for this reason that they were chosen.
In looking fro the information, I used the Google search engine. Well, the choice for this engine was mainly because it is quite informative as well as well planned. It is also the site with which I am well conversant with and as such, I was very sure that I could carry out comprehensive research using it. Of course, there are other sites that are equally resourceful but I must admit that I found this site more comfortable for me. This is the reason as to why I chose it.
Whenever research has to be done online, it goes without saying that the information has to be well searched. In this case, the information has to be searched using the available search terms. Right from the instructions for the assignment, there were three keywords that were required in the assignment. These were the ‘soundness’, ‘value’ and ‘impact’ of online education. Well, these were the same terms that were greatly employed in the research. Of course, the phrase ‘online learning’ was also very important and had to feature prominently all through the search. I must admit that getting the information on such broad search terms was quite fruitless and could not yield results that could be effectively applied in the writing of the essay. As such, I narrowed down to look at more precise terms, such as the benefits, advantages and disadvantages of online learning. This helped in refining the research to a great extent, giving results that could be easily applied in the research process. Although this was not an easy process, it eventually yielded the information which was very helpful in coming up with the final paper.
I did not use a specific database in collecting the information since the information I got from the sites described above were sufficient for the research. Of course, there were some sources which seemed to have good information on the topic but were rejected altogether. For instance, there are the opinion sites or blogs which just provide information with no reference or indication of the writer’s credibility and command in the topic. There is no way that such sites could be admitted since they were seen to be less credible. Overall, I can say that the process was not an easy one, though it was quite enlightening on the processes of research.
Work Cited
“Assignment 1”. Online Learning. (Attached).
