Chapter 1. Approaching the Internet

Summary

The objectives of a motivated learner are to increase the capacity of their intellect, to improve their understanding and to build on their skills. Not all students are motivated and some will attempt to cheat. Ultimately, whom are they cheating? Intellectual honesty implies that learners will be true to themselves. Unfortunately, the Internet offers tempting opportunities for poorly motivated students to cheat. Ultimately of course, they only cheat themselves. Such students should be aware that their tutors are expert readers who can easily recognise differences in style which point to plagiarism or other forms of dishonesty.

Multitasking allows the reader to use several programs in the same working session. This is particularly helpful when checking references for an assignment or thesis. Devices or programs may not always be compatible or may crash at inconvenient times. This is especially disruptive when moving data from computer to computer. Problems can be avoided by paying careful attention to file storage and manipulation; this chapter gives hints on how to do this and how to survive the problem of accidentally overwriting files.

Common sense and care should be exercised when using the Internet. Students must protect themselves, for example by not revealing their name and address in contexts that could lead to dangerous encounters. It is also important to be vigilant in protecting oneself from problems such as viruses, hackers and unreliable information.