The world is altering and changing around us in many different forms and deviations. These changes are applied throughout work areas, homes, and other various aspects of everyday life. Recently, in most school systems, the idea of online programs have become evident, as well as online tutoring and the use of laptops in a classroom setting. Entering my senior year, I prepared to be swamped with a heavy physics book or a heavy literature novel. However, upon the annual orientation and syllabus week, we were assigned Google Chromebooks, in which we have every subject book online, in addition to the use of Google Classroom and a new program called Odysseyware that we use for a certain number of courses. A fifteen-pound lineup of books (or, at least felt like it) suddenly turned into an almost weightless electronic that now is an essential tool for learning my core subjects and maintaining my studies. Although it was surely challenging at first as well as being a strange transition to endure, I now give thanks for using this type of education tool in my school this year. Having online education in my high school definitely has its pros and cons in the matter, but generally, it has provided me with the necessary skills that I will need to attain when furthering my studies in college.

One of my favorite online-program inventors, by far, is Mark Zuckerberg. He is notoriously known for being the creator of Facebook. Facebook provides millions of people with a social outlet they can use to connect with others who do not live nearby. Zuckerberg once said, “People think innovation is just having a good idea. However, a lot of it is just moving quickly and trying out a lot of things.” I feel as if Zuckerberg speaks volumes in a wide range of different aspects in that previous statement. In my perspective of his quote, he could be speaking about the usage of internet. It is an innovative invention that has been widely stretched throughout the years. Millions of websites, social media pages, and online shopping centers are advertised and openly showcased on the internet, with many additions and new things being added daily. In the second part of his quote, I take it as how my school is trying out things with having online books and other programs. Being the first year that my school is introducing laptops and online programs into the classrooms, they are trying these methods out to measure how it is settling with both the teachers and their students. For some, having to charge the laptop and make sure it is with you at all times is hard to follow, whereas some really enjoy the ease that comes with only having to keep up with this one thing.

Online learning is surely becoming a growing fad. It will change the lives of many students because they are learning key concepts such as strengthening their typing skills, communication skills, as well as organizational skills. Typing an answer instead of writing will strengthen a student’s skill when typing a college report or a scholarship essay. Online learning expands the minds of not only the student, but the teacher as well. It helps teachers grasp a better understanding of student’s work, especially if they have poor handwriting that is hard to read. However, at the same time, the perk contradicts itself. With doing school assignments online, school systems are slowly losing the art of traditional handwriting. Moreover, everyone benefits from the use of online learning. Overall, the environment has indirectly benefited from this transition, due to the use of cutting down on materials such as paper and pencils. With all of the innovations and methods surfacing throughout the years, the world is making a smooth transition into a viewpoint of online studying, learning, and tutoring.

Lindsey Turner - Google Chromebooks