WHAT IS THE INTERNET ?TheInternetis a global system of interconnectedcomputer networksthat use the standardInternet protocol suite(TCP/IP) to link several billion devices worldwide. It is anetwork of networksthat consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries an extensive range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linkedhypertextdocuments and applicationsof theWorld Wide Web(WWW), theinfrastructureto supportemail, andpeer-to-peernetworks forfile sharingand telephony.TheInternetis a large group ofcomputersthat are connected to each other. The Internet is used to send information quickly between computers around the world. It has millions of smallerdomestic,academic,business, andgovernmentnetworks and websites, which together carry many different kinds ofinformation(facts and details) and services. So in other words, the Internet is a network of networks.The Internet is a worldwide system of interconnected computer networks that use the TCP/IP set of network protocols to reach billions of users. The Internet began as a U.S Department of Defense network to link scientists and university professors around the world.A network of networks, today, the Internet serves as a global data communications system that links millions of private, public, academic and business networks via an international telecommunications backbone that consists of various electronic and optical networking technologies.Decentralized by design, no one owns the Internet and it has no central governing authority. As a creation of the Defense Department for sharing research data, this lack of centralization was intentional to make it less vulnerable to wartime or terrorist attacks.The terms "Internet" and "World Wide Web" are often used interchangeably; however, the Internet and World Wide Web are not one and the same.The Internet is a vast hardware and software infrastructure that enables computer interconnectivity. The Web, on the other hand, is a massive hypermedia database - a myriad collection of documents and other resources interconnected by hyperlinks. Imagine the World Wide Web as the platform which allows one to navigate the Internet with the use of a browser such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.Follow the Internet Timeline below to see how the Internet has evolved over the years and take a glance at what lies ahead in the future as the Internet continues to change the world we live in.INTERNET TIMELINE1957 USSR launches Sputnik into space. In response, the USA creates the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) with the mission of becoming the leading force in science and new technologies.1962 J.C.R. Licklider of MIT proposes the concept of a Galactic Network. For the first time ideas about a global network of computers are introduced. J.C.R. Licklider is later chosen to head ARPA's research efforts.1962 - Paul Baran, a member of the RAND Corporation, determines a way for the Air Force to control bombers and missiles in case of a nuclear event. His results call for a decentralized network comprised of packet switches.1968 - ARPA contracts out work to BBN. BBN is called upon to build the first switch.1969 RPANET created - BBN creates the first switched network by linking four different nodes in California and Utah; one at the University of Utah, one at the University of California at Santa Barbara, one at Stanford and one at the University of California at Los Angeles.1972 - Ray Tomlinson working for BBN creates the first program devoted to email.1972 - ARPA officially changes its name to DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.1972 - Network Control Protocol is introduced to allow computers running on the same network to communicate with each other.1973 - Vinton Cerf working from Stanford and Bob Kahn from DARPA begin work developing TCP/IP to allow computers on different networks to communicate with each other.1974 - Kahn and Cerf refer to the system as the Internet for the first time.1976 - Ethernet is developed by Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe.1976 SATNET, a satellite program is developed to link the United States and Europe. Satellites are owned by a consortium of nations, thereby expanding the reach of the Internet beyond the USA.1976 Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, sends out an email on 26 March from the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment (RSRE) in Malvern.1976 - AT& T Bell Labs develops UUCP and UNIX.1979 - USENET, the first news group network is developed by Tom Truscott, Jim Ellis and Steve Bellovin.1979 - IBM introduces BITNET to work on emails and listserv systems.1981 - The National Science Foundation releases CSNET 56 to allow computers to network without being connected to the government networks.1983 - Internet Activities Board released.1983 - TCP/IP becomes the standard for internet protocol.1983 - Domain Name System introduced to allow domain names to automatically be assigned an IP number.1984 - MCI creates T1 lines to allow for faster transportation of information over the internet.1984- The number of Hosts breaks 1,0001985- 100 years to the day of the last spike being driven on the Canadian Pacific Railway, the last Canadian university was connected to NetNorth in a one year effort to have coast-to-coast connectivity1987 - The new network CREN forms.1987- The number of hosts breaks 10,0001988 - Traffic rises and plans are to find a new replacement for the T1 lines.1989- The Number of hosts breaks 100 0001989- Arpanet ceases to exist1990 - Advanced Network & Services (ANS) forms to research new ways to make internet speeds even faster. The group develops the T3 line and installs in on a number of networks.1990 - A hypertext system is created and implemented by Tim Berners-Lee while working for CERN.1990- The first search engine is created by McGill University, called the Archie Search Engine1991- U.S green-light for commercial enterprise to take place on the Internet1991 - The National Science Foundation (NSF) creates the National Research and Education Network (NREN).1991 - CERN releases the World Wide Web publicly on August 6th, 19911992 The Internet Society (ISOC) is chartered1992- Number of hosts breaks 1,000,0001993 - InterNIC released to provide general services, a database and internet directory.1993- The first web browser, Mosaic (created by NCSA), is released. Mosaic later becomes the Netscape browser which was the most popular browser in the mid 1990's.1994 - New networks added frequently.1994 - First internet ordering system created by Pizza Hut.1994 - First internet bank opened: First Virtual.1995 - NSF contracts out their access to four internet providers.1995 - NSF sells domains for a $50 annual fee.1995 Netscape goes public with 3rd largest ever NASDAQ IPO share value1995- Registration of domains is no longer free.1996- The WWW browser wars are waged mainly between Microsoft and Netscape. New versions are released quarterly with the aid of internet users eager to test new (beta) versions.1996 Internet2 project is initiated by 34 universities1996 - Internet Service Providers begin appearing such as Sprint and MCI.1996 - Nokia releases first cell phone with internet access.1997- (Arin) is established to handle administration and registration of IP numbers, now handled by Network Solutions (IinterNic)1998- Netscape releases source code for Navigator.1998-Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) created to be able to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks1999 - A wireless technology called 802.11b, more commonly referred to as Wi-Fi, is standardized.2000- The dot com bubble bursts, numerically, on March 10, 2000, when the technology heavy NASDAQ composite index peaked at 5,048.622001 - Blackberry releases first internet cell phone in the United States.2001 The spread of P2P file sharing across the Internet2002 -Internet2 now has 200 university, 60 corporate and 40 affiliate members2003- The French Ministry of Culture bans the use of the word "e-mail" by government ministries, and adopts the use of the more French sounding "courriel"2004 The Term Web 2.0 rises in popularity when O'Reilly and MediaLive host the first Web 2.0 conference.2004- Mydoom, the fastest ever spreading email computer worm is released. Estimated 1 in 12 emails are infected.2005- Estonia offers Internet Voting nationally for local elections2005-Youtube launches2006- There are an estimated 92 million websites online2006 Zimbabwe's internet access is almost completely cut off after international satellite communications provider Intelsat cuts service for non-payment2006- Internet2 announced a partnership with Level 3 Communications to launch a brand new nationwide network, boosting its capacity from 10Gbps to 100Gbps2007- Internet2 officially retires Abilene and now refers to its new, higher capacity network as the Internet2 Network2008- Google index reaches 1 Trillion URLs2008 NASA successfully tests the first deep space communications network modeled on the Internet. Using software called Disruption-Tolerant Networking, or DTN, dozens of space images are transmitted to and from a NASA science spacecraft located about more than 32 million kilometers from Earth2009 ICANN gains autonomy from the U.S government2010- Facebook announces in February that it has 400 million active users.2010 The U.S House of Representatives passes the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act (H.R. 4061)2012 - A major online protest shook up U.S. Congressional support for two anti-Web piracy bills - the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect IP Act in the Senate. Many in the tech industry are concerned that the bills will give media companies too much power to shut down websites.

16 Websites Every Teacher Should Know About1- Teachers Network

Teachers Network provides lesson plans, classroom specials, teacher designed activities for different subjects and many other resources.

2- Smithsonian Education

Smithsonian Education offers a wide variety of free resources for teachers, students and parents.

3- Education World

This is another great website for teachers. It provides teaching tips, lesson plans, activities, academic articles, web resources and many more.

4- Discovery Education

Discovery Education offers a broad range of free classroom resources that complement and extend learning beyond the bell

5- The Gateway

This is one of the oldest publicly accessible U.S repositories of education resources on the web. It contains a variety of educational resource types from activities and lesson plans to online projects to assessment items.

6- EdHelper

EdHelper provides teachers with free printables, graphic organizers, worksheets, lesson plans, games and many other activities.

7- Thinkfinity

Thinkfinity is a free online professional learning community that provides access to over 50.000 educators and experts in curriculum enhancement, along with thousands of award-winning digital resources for k-12

8- PBS Teachers

This is a great website that can help teachers grow professionally. It offers free teaching resources relevant to different grade category.

9- Teachers.net

Teachers.net is a platform where teachers can get to discover new teaching ideas and tips, lesson plans, classroom projects and many more

10- 42explore

42explore is a web project that provides resources and teaching materials on different subject areas and disciplines.

11- A to Z Teacher Stuff

This is a teacher-created site designed to help teachers find online resources more quickly and easily. It provides lesson plans, thematic units, teacher tips, discussion forums for teachers, downloadable teaching materials, printable worksheets and many more.

12- Teachers First

This is a rich collection of lessons, untis, and web resources designed to save teachers time by delivering just what they need in a practical, user-friendly, and ad-free format.

13- About Education

This is another awesome website for teachers. It includes free resources on different sujbect matters as well as articles and tips on teaching and learning.

14- Scholastic

Scholastic is a great website that provides a lot of different resources for teachers, parents, kids, administrators, and librarians.

15- Teach Hub

Teach Hub provides k-12 news, lessons and share resources created by teachers and shared with teachers.

16- Edutopia

This is an excellent website that empowers and connects teachers, administrators, and parents with innovative solutions and resources to better education.

Use of the Internet in Education

The fast and relatively low-cost access is one of the major benefits of Internet to people and students all over the world, as getting an Internet connection is easy. Communication and information are the two basic uses of the Internet. Information available on websites can be updated or modified at any time and for any number of times, which helps in learning and better understanding.

Using MultimediaArguably, it is believed that visual data has a greater impact on learning and memorizing than plain text. Therefore, images, graphics, animation, pictures, slides, documentaries, etc., have a greater appeal than a plain textbook. Using multimedia and Internet provides an opportunity for children to gain knowledge about a particular subject in depth. Students can now see the actual photographs of rare bird species, or see animated graphics of a volcanic eruption to understand the concept in detail.

Online LearningAnother positive effect of Internet in education is the onset of distance education or online education (internet-based training (IBT) or web-based training (WBT)). With this facility, you can take up short-term courses with the course material available online, attend virtual classes, learn, and appear for exams. One of the benefits of online learning is that people from any part of the world can gain knowledge on different subjects, complete courses, etc.

Easy ContactStudents can contact other students or their teachers via the e-mail if they have queries about any information. Sharing of information, discussions on a particular subject, etc., can be easily carried out using the Internet. At the same time, teachers can also contact parents and guardians easily using Internet.

School/College ProjectsUsing the Internet can be very useful for completing projects in schools and colleges. As the Internet is an ocean of information, covering nearly all subjects known to man, one can find information, research work, etc., required for one's projects. Going through the information on the Internet is definitely faster than reading an entire book on the subject. Completing homework is also easier with the help of the Internet.

EncyclopediaSometimes, an encyclopedia may not always be available to students and they may have difficulty in gaining access to the books in the library. In that case, the encyclopedia of various subjects available on the Internet can be helpful. This is more useful for students who belong to communities not having English as their mother tongue. Kids and younger children can also be benefited by the Internet by using the pictures, videos, etc.

NewsAll the latest news are constantly updated on the Internet on news websites. Students learning politics, can have an access to all the current affairs through the Internet. Historical accounts like speeches, biographies, archive videos and photographs, etc., are also easily available on the Internet in detailed and accurate versions.

Affordable KnowledgeInvesting in research material may be tedious and unaffordable for some. But, now, thanks to the Internet, we have content websites, web encyclopedias, and dictionaries whenever we want them. Today, able as well as less-able students can be benefited to the sea of knowledge through the Internet. University courses and learning is now easy for people belonging to all strata of the society with the help of online courses.

Easy Education SystemNot only gaining knowledge, but, every part of the education system is simplified because of the Internet. You can now view your prospective educational institute, look up for courses, enroll to online courses, take classes, research, see your results, and even look for job prospects on the Internet. Therefore, the scope of Internet in education is very wide and equal to all.

No Age Bracket for EducationOnline courses provide an opportunity for people of all age groups to take up education of their choice, according to their liking and wish. Be it a student, a housewife, or a professional, they can just start up their computers, connect to the Internet, and take virtual classes. Therefore, people can now gain knowledge according to their need and time available. You are, now, never too old or too busy to learn something new.

With these points, we find that the importance of Internet in education cannot be denied, and hence, every student should be given access to the Internet for deeper understanding and knowledge of a subject. However, lots and lots of information can be termed as both, advantages and disadvantages of the Internet as students can also have an access to unwanted or unethical information and sites. Therefore, it is only wise for parents to make students understand what is good and what not for them, or keep a watch on their surfing (web browsing).

Lastly, although the Internet cannot replace books or classroom education, it is one of the best substitute for those who wish to gain deeper knowledge on literally every subject under the sun.Paulo Freire was a Brazilian ideologist whose radical ideas have shaped the modern concept of and approaches toeducation. In his essayThe 'Banking' Concept of Education, Freire passionately expounds on the mechanical flaw in the current system, and offers an approach that he believes medicates the learning-teaching disorder in the classroom. The flawed conception, Freire explains, is the oppressive depositing of information (hence the term 'banking') by teachers into their students. But, according to Freire, a liberating educational practice (his problem-posing method) negates the unconsciousness of those in classroom roles, and no false intellectual stimulation can exist within that practice. On the contrary, inanycase, the student is responsible for understanding the material one way or another depending on what style the teacher adapts, even if the content is un-relatable to the students lives. If a teacher has a certain premeditated lesson, then there can be no true independence on behalf of the student, because both the banking and problem-posing concepts are anti-autonomous.The banking concept, as termed by Freire, is essentially an act that hinders the intellectual growth of students by turning them into, figuratively speaking, comatose receptors and collectors of information that have no real connection to their lives. Freire states:"Implicit in the banking concept is the assumption of a dichotomy between human beings and the world: a person is merely in the world, not with the world or with others; the individual is a spectator, not re-creator. In this view the person is not a conscious being (corpo consciente); he or she is rather the possessor of a consciousness: an empty mind passively open to the reception of deposits of reality from the world outside" (247).What Freire means by this is that the banking concept imposes a schism between a person (teacher and/or student) and the real world, resulting in the evident demise of his or her true consciousness, since the former can only be realized through the relationships and connections the individual draws from the material to their life. In this view, Freire claims that by assuming the roles of teachers as depositors and students as receptors, the banking concept thereby changes humans into objects. Humans (as objects) have no autonomy and therefore no ability to rationalize and conceptualize knowledge at a personal level. And because of this initial misunderstanding, the method itself is a system of oppression and control.To alleviate this dehumanization produced by the banking concept, Freire introduces what is deemed as problem-posing education. In this approach the roles of students and teachers become less structured, and both engage in acts of dialogic enrichment to effectively ascertain knowledge from each other. According to Freire, Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other (244).This means that true comprehension can only be fashioned though conversation, questioning, and sharing of ones interpretations by all persons in the classroom. Within this concept Freire calls for an equal playing field, or what one of my former teachers called mutual humanity: It [problem-posing education] enables teachers and students to become Subjects of the educational process by overcoming authoritarianism and an alienating intellectualism (253-254). However, Freire failed to observe that incessantly within the apparatus of a classroom there is an imbalanced power structure between the teacher and the students. For all intents and purposes, the teacher is always an authority, no matter what.However, inherent in the problem-posing method is a two-pronged line of attack, meaning there are two classroom modes within the one problem-posing method. One is pseudo-dialectic, which is the illusion of students and teachers actually discovering knowledge with and from each other, because the teacher poses a question but already has the solution in mind. In this way, the students are directed towards a particular outcome, and do not have independent thought-processes. The other is genuine dialectic, meaning the teacher poses a question with no intention of steering the dialogue towards a single answer. Depending on the amount of experience the teacher has under their belt, they can expect a certain percentage of the possible answers, but it is the remaining percent of answers, which they had never actually considered, that they in fact take interest in.Freire asserted, If it is true that thought has meaning only when generated by action upon the world, the subordination of students to teachers becomes impossible (247). What this means is that passive learning thwarts true consciousness, which then means no active imagination can be produced in which action is facilitated. In view of the fact that mock problem-posing education does not necessitate agency on behalf of the students, then the method is, too, ineffective at facilitating consciousness that precedes reflection, which can therefore not be acted upon. Hence this method does not grant the students liberation, and their so-called independence is but an illusion. (Let it be known that for the sake of argument the ideas of illusion and reality are taken loosely to reflect the nature of different educational methods, not the nature of the ideas themselves).On the flipside, genuine problem-posingdiminishesa teachers authority to a level that does not obstruct the exchange of ideas. Necessary participation, attendance, effort in assignments, and so on and so forth are indeed authoritative, however within the classroom dialogue there is a natural conversation that is not hindered by authoritativeness. At this point it is necessary to consider the nature of freedom: the difference between beingfreeand beingfree of. True freedom is profound; can anyone ever truly be free? In this case of genuine problem-posing, the student isfree ofthe oppression of limiting intellectualism inherent in banking and pseudo-dialectic.In essence, the Freirian spectrum- with banking at one end, pseudo problem-posing at the center (which essentially is a form of banking) and genuine problem-posing at the other end- mimics the real world in that one is always subject to some degree of authority. The dynamics of those relationships depend on how much each party is willing to give and take, meaning to what degrees the authority renounces their control and the subject allows them. The notion that students believe they are granted true independence in a classroom has consequences in and on the world at large. Illusory freedom is disastrous because it is a belief in something that is not truth- it does not exist. Therefore students become part of the real world believing they know all simply because they were under the impression they were free when they learned it. In reality, the students had never discovered what was true for them, and consequently were led to accept an idea and regard it as true without question.In the instance of true dialectic, the student regards the minimal authority as a non-threat, whereby the student then becomes the final authority on their convictions. In the real world, this is instrumental in fostering a society of enlightened, open-minded and independent persons. Freire elucidates:"In problem-posingeducation, people develop their power to perceive criticallythe way they existin the worldwith whichandin whichthey find themselves; they come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation. Although the dialectical relations of women and men with the world exist independently of how these relations are perceived (or whether or not they are perceived at all), it is also true that the form of action they adopt is to a large extent a function of how they perceive themselves in the world. Hence, the teacher-student and the students-teachers reflect simultaneously on themselves and the world without dichotomizing this reflection from action, and thus establish an authentic form of thought and action" (252).What Freire means is that problem-posing is dynamic because, according to the text, reality is in a continuous state of change. He is saying that although the actual dialogue subsists whether or not the subjects recognize the true nature of reality, their actions are formed by their perceptions of theirownreality. The revolutionary component of problem-posing is when both the teacher-student and student-teacher contemplate their own realities and are then empowered to imagine otherwise. Because of and through this imagination, the teacher-student and student-teacher act upon those considerations, and thus revolutionize the current reality and advance humanity. The authentic form of thought and action produced by genuine problem-posing is the key to human progression: by placing oneself in the timeline of humanity to learn from the past, examining ones life in relation to the present while questioning everything, and moving onward to shape the future while never ceasing to idly negate those lessons.Education in the post-modern society has become the backbone, the foundation for the persons of that society that will one day hold the reigns. The future of humanity is closely linked to the individuals produced by education, and the methodological circumstances in which that intellectual transformation took place. Necessary to the future is an attention to the present in which we vow to set genuine, dialectical education as the bar to initiate advancement, and search for the rebirth of imagination.

Freire, Paulo. The Banking Concept of Education.Ways of Reading. 8thed. Bartholomae, David and Anthony Petrosky. Boston: Bedford- St. Martins, 2008. 242-254. Print.