Potential benefits and problems of using internet for business and education

Topic: potential benefits and problems of using internet for business and education The Internet has established its relevance and crucial role bothin learning and business world. It has become the robust tool for education and growth in business. Students are using this online medium to attain success in examination as the medium has been unanimously accepted for exchange of information and ease of working through the internet by all sections of society, be it teachers, students, or the business world. There are huge potential benefits of the Internet but problems can be immense if the medium is misused. Internet can provide many benefits to spread the cause of education. It offers the possibility of using the world-wide-web flexibly and in distinct mode and look. Students and professors can interact easily by using such tools as chat-rooms and blogs offered by interactively constructed websites. User-friendly navigation of the education websites helps the new users to remain updated with the online syllabus schedules as they are easily adjusted and restructured for them. Comfort level of the students has heightened greatly with the added interactive features of universities’ websites (College-University-Directory. com, 2006). Students can use the internet facility for education and learning purpose cost-effectively and comfortably. Knowledge gaining and sharing has become fenceless. A lot of time spent in travelling for tutoring purpose can be utilised better for study hours by the professionals. Online study compensates the physical handicap of the students with disabilities (College-University-Directory. com, 2006). Colleges and universities can put all the information online at much reduced cost by opting for proven technological know-how from the reputed vendors. Students having language problem can read and review the content as many times as needed and take online classes at their ease and preferable time. Students can easily update with any changes introduced in the online courses. Peer-review of students’ assignments can be arranged through the medium of internet. Thus, there are so many potential advantages of using Internet for education (College-University-Directory. com, 2006). Usage of Internet for Business New dimensions to business growth worldwide are getting realised through the internet. Banking services are being used by customers without visiting the banks physically. A long list of services such as ticket booking, employment opportunities, matrimonial and a list of services required for each sphere of life can be availed online (Pakhare, 2011). Internet has opened the floodgates of doing e-commerce by any kind of business transaction through information transfer globally over the internet. Online shopping for any shopping needs can be made while sitting at the comfort and luxury of home, without wasting time in road traffic. Almost any product or service can be purchased online from the vendors as ecommerce has expanded its reach into all saleable products and services. No product and services range is untouched from the benefits of the Internet, from household goods to technology (Pakhare, 2011). Potential problems of using Internet for business There could be problems of using internet, as crucial personal data could be stolen such as credit card details. Young generation can become entrapped to viewing pornography stuff putting at risk their career aims. Malicious emails can be sent to trap the crucial data (Pondered. org, 2006). The new medium of performing business functions has distinct flaws attached such as entrepreneurs working from home need additional knowledge of operating computers to remain in the online business. Any information update can not be made without having knowledge of HTML. Advanced business functions like creating tables, graphics and uploading of new content on the server or automating of functions by installing scripts need to engage the services of technology experts. Although business functions can be performed by having working knowledge of technology only but funds have to be spared for hiring web designers and programmers to manage the technology related problems. Any repairing of a broken link can be costly if you need to engage a web designer for it (Reyna, 2011). Another problem of doing business through the virtual world is copying of a business site with all the graphics and product details to construct another site without labouring and investing in similar resources. It breeds competition at nominal cost because the internet cannot block the view of such content for those who take undue benefit of the medium. Domain names can be easily taken over by changing a single letter, which in the case of businesses operating from home can be risky proposition, as such small businesses cannot patent their products and ideas and can not fight in the court for infringement of their copyrights. Any malfunctioning of the web hosting company can affect the functioning of a website. Some times, people don’t prefer doing business through internet (Reyna, 2011). Students can also make use of the internet medium for wrong purposes. In stead of putting hard work themselves they can misuse the system by ordering assignments and homework from other sources. References College-University-Directory. com., 2006. The internet’s significant impact on education. Available from: http://www. college-university-directory. com/internet_1. html [Accessed 22 September 2011]. Pakhare, Jayashree., 2011. Advantages and disadvantages of the Internet. Available from: http://www. buzzle. com/articles/advantages-disadvantages-internet. html [Accessed 22 September 2011]. Pondered. org., 2006. The Advantages & disadvantages of the Internet. Available from: http://www. pondered. org/the_internet. html [Accessed 22 September 2011]. Rayna, Steve Ma., 2011. Disadvantages of a home-based internet business. Available from: http://www. powerhomebiz. com/vol90/disadvantages. htm [Accessed 22 September 2011].