I have been taking a remedial math class for the past couple of weeks and have been poking around on the web for some useful resources to help me learn. One of these incredible assests that every single user of the web has access to is Khan Academy, this is probably one of the most useful websites I know of for learning as it covers topics ranging from basic addition and subtraction to calculus and even the recent finacial crisis. Each topic is carfuly and slowly explained in a way that really invites you to take a part in the learning. and has even implemented a sort of virtual classroom that will test and present excersizes that you need to lean and ranks you progress with a points system which I can see as an excellent way to encourage students to engage with material.
I think this website is some of the best examples of what the web needs to be about: open, free, skill/knowledge based. While I can see the importance of social media such as FBook and Twitter as important parts of the web (this is witnessed by the indispensable use of twitter in organizing protest in Egypt's uprising/Arab spring). But with sites like Wikipedia, TED, Youtube, and Khan Academy you really get the sense that the web has allowed for more democratization of the world and allows you to expose yourself to beneficial material. I see sites like these really working to make change and opportunity in the world and makes me wonder how as these websites grow in importance to the world what impacts will they begin to have on our day to day lives. But as our oppoutunity to access this material grows it is important to note that there are still those who do not have the same access to this information as we do and makes it all the more important to close the "digital divide" This is truly an amazing time to live in
the web is something that I believe in, I believe in its amazing capacity to connect us with information ,people (but let me be clear: the web does not replace person to person social interaction),cultures and viewpoints. The web is a place for information and ideas to spread at a rate never before seen or comprehended and this I believe is important to protect and cultivate as we move forward
