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Wild Card: The Internet as an Educator


            One of the key aspects within the Internet Communications course is the interactive learning programs that have enabled many users to become better at a skill and increase their knowledge in a subject. There are many mobile apps and websites that offer services that are interactive learning programs. There are those you can pay for, those that are free, and those that are free but offer a premium service at a cost. All the apps in this section either have high ratings in the app store or are well known in the aspects of skill betterment and supplemental education.
            Currently, the most popular language-learning app is Duolingo. This app has 28 fully developed language courses for English speakers as well as another 4 that are being beta tested. Spanish is currently the most popular language for English speakers to take while the least popular is Navajo. While this app is not meant as a complete educator for language learning, its supplemental knowledge is enough to produce confidence in tourists and shoppers that are not fully educated in the local dialect. This is incredibly evident in Sweden, with the Swedish language being the most learned language in the country through Duolingo and other services. This is because of the rapid immigration in Sweden and one in six residents 
            Standardized testing is a common practice in US public schools. The ACT and SAT are standardized tests that are used by colleges to determine whether a student needs remedial courses, if they are able to take regular courses, and if they are able to receive academic scholarships for attending. The scores for these tests can determine if a person can attend college, which makes preparation for these tests the key in order to be successful. Ready4 ACT and Ready4 SAT are both highly rated test preparation apps that appear incredibly affordable within the realm of test prep. Each app costs $20 to use the full service while some tutors could cost anywhere from $80 to $200 an hour. These statistics can make the Ready4 apps both a complete assistant for test preparation as well as an economical purchase.
            Business education can achieve both the acquisition of new skill sets as well as the knowledge that can secure a career. This is where LinkedIn Learning comes in. Both the website and the mobile app aspire to provide a plethora of training videos for computer programs and devices as well as offering classes that can increase knowledge in business skills and practices. The Business tab has 12 different categories, the Creative category has 9, and the Technology tab has 9 as well. Upon clicking any of the categories opens numerous results for each skill. Through the Creative tab, the photography category has over 9,000 results for ways to better photography skills. Professional development? Over 500 results. LinkedIn Learning makes the attempt for any modern businessman and businesswoman to overcome the knowledge gap they may have to better their work performance.
            There are many amazing apps and websites that provide educational services and skill related training, yet the most expansive library of videos comes from YouTube. YouTube is owned by Google, so almost anything that is put into Google's search engine will provide a related video on YouTube by clicking the "video" tab. It should be stressed that not all training related videos on YouTube will provide proper training and could possibly hinder progress. While there are hundreds of results on YouTube for “How to play Simple Man on guitar”, not every one of those will be a correct rendition of the song. Simple educational videos such as, “how to properly split wood” or “how to use Excel”, will generally be more accurate as there is less room for differing opinions and the skills are not highly intricate.
With any training or educational-based website, the largest thing to consider is that the knowledge you receive is only useful if it's implemented. Spending 12 hours a day watching guitar training videos won’t make anyone better at guitar if they don’t attempt to play. In the end, all knowledge requires application in order to achieve success in training.

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