大学体验英语第一册Unit2-Passage A

Passage A
Internet and Education
Education plays a very important role in everybody's life. We go to school because we want to know more about the world around us and at the same time extend our horizons of thinking. The typical classroom used to be the place where teachers and students were working and exploring the wonderful world of knowledge together, but now everything has changed. Technology is taking over those interactions and introducing us to a whole new approach of learning.

Online education

Millions of people have rejected traditional education in favor of E-learning. And many universities have set up E-learning centers. Online-learning enrollments are growing 33 percent a year and are expected to hit 2.2 million by 2004.
Wages for teachers

According to National Faculty 1 Salary Survey in Private Four-Year Colleges and Universities(2000-01), the highest-paying discipline/major field is Law, in which the overall average salary is $108,450. The other disciplines/major fields in the top five are Public Health, $89,706; Financial Management and Services, $89,523; Chemical Engineering, $82,878; and Electrical, Electronics 2 and Communications Engineering, $80,848. A wider salary survey by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) found a 3.5 percent increase in average salaries for faculty at public and private institutions in recent years.
Register for classes

Students register their classes with the help of their teachers. They are encouraged to register early, as class sizes are usually limited to a certain number of students and are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. They may register through the mail, by phone/fax or in person at the Center. Today, it is widespread at colleges and universities to register through the Internet, so it is no longer a phenomenon that students stand in a long line waiting to register for classes at the registration 3 center.
Online life

It is certainly true that life online is inescapable. Colleges that have invested a great deal in online learning have often discovered that the extra work for the teachers has been more than they expected, and so have some of the financial costs thus far. However, online education is quite new, and in the future the author's optimistic predictions may all come true.

　　 The Internet is one of those approaches. Learning via the Internet is a new style that many people believe is more successful than the conventional form of teaching. The Internet allows schools to develop a large amount of learning material that is accessible for students online anytime. There are so many choices of courses and subjects or time frames that completing a program is not an issue for students anymore. We found that online education gives us excellent sources of information, saves our time, money and it is extremely convenient.
Not long ago we used to go to the library every time we needed information and spent hours searching for the right sources. Today there is a "library" in our house and it is available 24 hours a day. From my personal experience, as a first time mother, I found that using information online is very helpful. While I am at home with my baby, I am still able to connect to the world and search for any educational materials I need. I am also able to exchange thoughts, opinions and information with my classmates without leaving my house.
The Internet is not only a big information provider but also saves us money and time. People are predicting that education will be much cheaper in the future because of Internet access to information. The cost of land, buildings and wages for teachers are continuously increasing and that makes conventional education more expensive than online education. In addition, regular courses (offline) depend heavily on books and other traditional paper-based materials while online education posts lectures, notes, and assignments electronically and that saves thousands of dollars every year. There is also no need for the classroom itself because most programs online require participation 4 in discussion and group projects via e-mail.

　　
The Internet classes and courses are also very convenient because there are no physical restrictions 5 as in conventional education like space and time limitations. First, in classroom-based education there is a limitation on the number of students that are allowed in each class while Internet education is available to everyone because a classroom is not an issue there. Students don't have to struggle in order to register for the classes they like. In addition, there is no time limitation so students can repeat exercises as many times as they need.

　　 Education will spread out more and more online and students will have more choices on how and when to take their courses and classes. They will easily be able to take the classes they want and repeat material on the Internet as many times as they need. The Internet is a wonderful opportunity to have a good time but also to learn something in a convenient and less expensive way. In my opinion online life in the future is simply inescapable.
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