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Computers and Online Learning

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?In the whole world, Zambia inclusive computers and Internet have become the most effective resources not only limited to communication but deeply extended to education. The use of search engines and electronic libraries have made both on-campus plus distance learning simplified and cheap. The technology, however, comes with several negative implications, among them, the validity of information, Internet addiction, trap sites and other cyber abuses. People of different age groups and jobs, students and academicians who do specific research and prepare projects prefer using the Internet because it is the easiest, fastest, and cheapest ways of accessing necessary information (Cloud,1989). For Internet users to access information search engines are utilized. Search engines are open access sites and are the most widely used resources for students projects. Many of them have open access on Internet Explorer programs, for example, Google, but some are customized tools supplying multiple search engines like “Copernic.” Resources which are accessed through these engines help students to gather the required information for their projects. By using different filters in the advanced search tabs, directly accessible resources provide more effective results for specific types of documents, such as documents with PDF and PPT (PowerPoint) in just a few seconds, thus less time is wasted in accessing the documents and more time remains for students to study to understand the contents of the documents accessed. Customized tools simplify the students' works. These search engines makes student access to several sites including electronic libraries possible. Electronic libraries offer an important advantage in accessing information required from related sites. They are classified into two different groups: open and closed. The closed sources in electronic libraries in universities are based on academic books and contractual journals and are completely trustworthy. These collections are ideal for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and academicians, because their trustworthiness is very reliable. These closed sources in electronic libraries make sources of information more reliable for distance education students. Distance education is a mode of delivering education and instruction, often on individual basis to students who are not physically present in a traditional setting such as a classroom. Through the use of current advanced technologies, students can learn any time, anywhere, by mode of delivering education and instruction, where the student–teacher relationship is carried out at simultaneous or different times without the need for physical proximity. Nowadays, the infrastructure of distance education is mostly web-based training. The use of Internet in the educational environment has enabled easy access to many resources and informat

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