Wiki, Google-New online teachers

Studying online seems to be the new trend among students today. While a few depend for notes on the new God, Google; some have found virtual classrooms with real teachers A

Suhani Dewra

It wasn't long ago that the idea of studying meant a conventional set-up of four-walled classroom with benches placed to form neat rows, a teacher with a chalk in her hand and a blackboard waiting to be dusted for next set of algebraic formulas. But like everything else the magical Internet has revolutionised, 'education' is one. Studying online seems to be the newest trend among students today. While a few depend for notes on the new God, Google; some have found online classroom and a foreign teacher.

Priyanka Molthati, a second-year MSc student at St Francis College For Women, Begumpet, relies on the popular Wikipedia pages for clarifying doubts in Chemistry subject. "I often fail to understand the concepts of Chemistry, which is when I log on to the Wiki page. I also download power point presentations from Google. There is no specific website I refer to download PPTs; I simply type the relevant keyword in the search engine," she shares.

Srikanth Sharma, Intermediate student of Sri Chaitanya Junior College at Narayanguda, logs on to mindpowerindia.com to buy CDs on tips to increase memory concentration. "I have been using the CDs such as 'Mind power exam maximiser'; 'Mind Power Music'; etc, for various purposes since my Class X examinations.

Ashwin Reddy, who recently graduated in Bachelor's of Mass Communications, takes classes from coursera.com, a portal that works as a distant classroom with a teacher for various courses. Interestingly, the myriad courses on the list are offered for a particular duration and, hey, don't be surprised if a professor stops the class and questions you on all that he has taught you! And at the end of the course, the teacher awards you with a certificate.

"I had enrolled for a course names 'The Camera Never Lies' which was for duration of six weeks. But I had to discontinue the course as I was unable to manage college classes and coursera classes. However, I again plan to enroll in the course because the certificate means a lot to me since teachers from 33 top universities of the world work for the portal," Ashwin says.

Some, like Nehal Agarwal, has yet not found their perfect online portal. "I often use the web to search for subject-related information, but there is no one site I refer to. I merely type in keywords and select a bit of information from several portals. Since I am a Foreign Trade student, I log on to rbi.org.in for finance related information," informs the third year commerce students.