How computer's have furthered my education

      I have enjoyed reading The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman.  I have gained a new view of how technology has been useful in my everyday life.  Today I am taking a break from reading and giving an overview of this book.  I am going to talk about how computers have been beneficial in my life, and how they have been used in furthering my education.  I am glad that I am talking about this after I have read most of Thomas Friedman’s book.  I feel that if I would have been asked to talk about how computers have been beneficial in my education before I had read this then I think I may have been pretty naïve and ignorant to the ways it has really benefited me.
      First,  I will explore how computers have been useful in educating me throughout my schooling.  Since, probably around the 5^th grade I have been asked to use computers.  Starting with small assignments and eventually growing to taking online classes in college.  I do remember that in elementary and junior high school they were kind of secondary.  We learned mostly through lectures or articles that were printed then gave to us.
      In High School and College, computers started to become more primary for my education.  We were asked to research various assignments online, and then submit them online.  This brought in a new era for me of how education could be.  Instead of receiving assignments, taking them home, completing them, and bringing them back to turn them in.  Now, I could complete assignments anywhere.  Not only that, but I was able to do as good on assignments as my discipline would permit.  If I receive an assignment and I do not understand a concept, I am able to research it and become educated in that subject.  So, in a sense, computers were a means to helping me get better grades.
      Other than benefiting me in school they have been a very good tool in helping me become educated in subjects that are not so openly taught in schools.  It is an incredible thought to think that there is a device that has what seems to be unlimited knowledge about millions of subjects.  I am interested in entrepreneurship, so I have a lot of subjects that I want to explore and learn about.  I can get on the computer and become educated about anything.  Wow, talk about incredible!  Once you understand this it becomes harder to waste your time with degrading activities that don’t get you anywhere.  Knowledge truly is power. It seems today that the most powerful and influential people are those who have the discipline to continue their learning through computers.