Comparison of Gmail and Yahoo Mail for Business Communication

Student’s Last name 1
Integrated Professional Skills in Digital Age
By (Name)
Course
Professor
University
Date

Student’s Last name 2
Individual essay
Introduction
Technology has influenced many aspects of modern life. The rise of internet use in the
21st century has tremendously grown. The internet has facilitated a new method of learning in
universities through online education tools and research. A study has revealed that the number of
students using the internet for learning activities has doubled over the last six years. Online
learning creates a serene atmosphere for students by developing a smart approach and innovation
in learning. Universities across the world are now able to carry out research and studies with so
much ease due to the improved technology of information and communication technology (ICT).
The internet exposes the university students to the dynamics of change in the world and ongoing
technological transformation that are taking place. The internet is gradually replacing the
traditional forms of learning characterized by whiteboards, chalkboards, and hardcopy of
textbooks. The changes, however, act in two way traffic by enhancing the performance of
students while also contributing to a decline in the performance if not properly controlled. This
study is investigating both the benefits and challenges of the internet to the students in the 21st
century and the challenges and measures of security in using the internet.
The advent of the internet has made learning so much easier in universities across the
globe. The internet has facilitated the connection between the student to peer and student to
instructor. The internet has facilitated the development of study through research, enhancing
communication and thinking capabilities among the students, facilitating their collaboration and
interactions within the learning environment (Kuznekoff and Titsworth, 2013, pp.248).
Additionally, the internet has enabled students to share important academic files through online

Student’s Last name 3
platforms such as e-mail. The student is also able to interact more with the facilitator through
such form as e-mail to seek clarification and guidance from the tutor. Another way through
which the internet has facilitated learning in the universities is through e-learning and Moodle.
Nowadays, many universities offer their courses through online platforms. This has facilitated
the interaction of the student and the course facilitator from any part of the world. For example, a
student in Africa may engage in learning from an Australian university, provided he has an
internet connection. The Moodle enables convenient transfer and deliveries of learning materials
from the instructor to the students. The course instructor uploads electronic learning materials
such as pdf and PowerPoint slides in the Moodle and the students are required to download them.
This method ensures that the students gain access to the reading materials and can use them for
future reference. It has replaced the traditional chalkboard content delivery, where the students
had to physically attend classes and take notes of important reading materials. Perhaps the most
convenient and important usage of the internet for university students is its ability for the student
to access online reading materials. There are numerous educational resources such as articles,
journals, blogs, e-books and education sites that are available to the student through the internet.
Most of these materials are available for free and the student has to log in to academic sites such
as Proquest to access them. The students are able to access these materials in any location
provided there is an internet service provider. The students are shifting from carrying loads of
textbooks and many are opting for laptops, iPad or even smartphones that are much lighter and
one can access most of the learning materials just by a click of the button. The internet has also
made learning more engaging as students are able to compare theoretical materials to real-life
examples. Additionally, the internet is a more engaging form of study as it uses visualization and
images that make learning more interactive. The internet has also facilitated video learning

Student’s Last name 4
through sites such as YouTube. The instructors are able to share video tutorials over YouTube
while also directing students to videos that have relevance to the course. The students, on the
other hand, are able to watch and download these videos and share them with their peers.
Despite the internet playing a critical role in easing education access and facilitating
student performance at the university, it can destroy the progress of the student by having a
negative impact on academic performance if not well controlled. Internet addiction is among the
contemporary challenges facing university students in the 21st century. This is the inability of
the student to control his or her internet use. Internet addiction can impact student
psychologically, socially, and academically (Dalbudak and Evren, 2014, pp.500). The student is
increasingly vulnerable to internet addiction due to the many free hours they might have and the
availability of free internet provided by the academic institution. The university student may
engage in unproductive activities such as logging in to social media sites such as Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat (Yan, Li and Sui, 2014, pp.8). Additionally, the internet can
impact the student morally when he visits pornographic sites which can ultimately lead to sex
addictions. All of these practices may result in the student performing dismally in academic. This
is because the student may procrastinate important academic work or skip lectures as a result of
late-night social media browsing.
The internet has transformed our lives in countless ways but it has a dark side. Among
the major global concern on the advent of the internet is the privacy concern. There have been
many issues such as the Snowden scandal that shows how our information from the internet is
mined by the government and multinationals corporations. The Cambridge Analytica company
also mined Facebook user data in the United States and sold the information to political players
(Kortuem, et al., 2013, pp.58). Much of our personal information winds up online and privacy is