DNT Academy - Reforming Education Through E-learning

Some useful words and expressions you should learn to use when talking about the Internet.

20 Verbs:

to surf the internet, to browse websites, to sign up, to sign in, to sign out, to log in, to log out, to download...from, to upload... to, to chat, to install, to uninstall, to delete, to update, to scan, to network, to socialize, to search, to be scammed, to post.

20 Nouns / adjectives:

Social networking websites, social media, search engines, apps, cyber security, cyberspace, cyber crime, cyber criminals, email, e-commerce, e-learning, e-payment, e-book, blogs, online forums, classifieds websites, micro-blogging websites, digital games, virtual games, malware.

Part 1 speaking questions for practice:

Do you use the Internet often? Answer example: Yes, I use the Internet quite often. I would say I spend about 3hours on average online from Monday to Friday and even more on Saturdays and Sundays when I am not at school.

What do you use the Internet for? Answer example: I use the Internet for a variety of activities such as chatting with friends, searching for information related to the things we study at school and entertainment. I use websites like YouTube to watch educational as well as entertainment videos.

Is it expensive to use the Internet in your country? Answer example: I wouldn't say it is very expensive from my point of view as a student. At school we have free WiFi even though it is quite slow. At home my parents do pay monthly for the internet but I don't think the cost is too high for them.

What's your favorite website? Answer example: YouTube is definitely the one. I use it almost daily. Apart from watching all kinds of videos I like, I can upload my own videos. I have my own YouTube channel with several videos. I can subscribe to channels I like, comment on videos, share them with friends or even download videos I like very much onto my laptop, and all that for free. I only need a stable internet connection.

Do you have any online learning experience? Answer example: Yes I do. Recently our city was locked down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools campuses were locked. Students were required to take classes online via special e-learning platforms that were set up by the government. We were taught online for about 3months.

So do you prefer learning online? Answer example: No, I don't think I do. During the e-learning experience I have just talked about I didn't feel satisfied with the quality of teaching. I think it is difficult for online teachers to supervise online learners closely. The student may be logged on but not really following what the teacher is saying.

How about shopping online? Do you prefer shopping online? Answer example: Definitely! I prefer shopping online to shopping downtown at physical locations mainly because of the convenience. Not only is it more convenient and faster it is even cheaper. Online shopping may have a few disadvantages but I think the advantages are more. Imagine the fact that I can order something from a seller in America and receive it at home in China. Without the internet I wouldn't even know that product and the seller were available.

What do you think is the biggest danger of using the internet? Answer example: In my opinion, the biggest danger is addiction to the niceties of the Internet like, digital games, music, movies, shopping, etc. The convenience of using the internet to do things can easily lead to addiction especially considering the fact that most internet pleasures are almost free. Studies have shown that students, especially teenagers can easily get carried away by distractions based online, not to talk of the bad influence they can get from bad online friends and news mediums.

Part 2 topic practice:

Describe an application young people use very often in your country. You should say:
=> What kind of app it is
=> What it is used for
=> The special features the app has
And say why young people consider it to be their favorite app.

Answer example:
My topic is to describe an application young people use very often in my country. The application I am going to talk about is called Weixin in Chinese. In English it is called WeChat. It is mainly a chat app for people to keep in touch with their friends and loved ones but actually it is more than just a chat tool. This app is packed with many other features that users can explore. It is worth noting that users can type chat, audio chat and video chat, Free audio and video calls to individuals as well as groups make it possible for people to have virtual meetings. Many teachers explore that feature for online teaching. One very special feature of this app is the e-wallet and e-payment capability. Users can save money in the WeChat wallet and use the money for online shopping. Many e-commerce websites are integrated with the WeChat payment system. This greatly facilitates online shopping. This is only one of many awesome features that can be found on WeChat. You can pay your utility bills using WeChat. You can play virtual games on WeChat, you can browse Channels for leisure. You can read the latest news from various media outlets. You can own and manage your own group on WeChat, and so on and so forth. Nowadays people say you can't live in China conveniently without using WeChat. It is not an overstatement to say every smartphone owner in China has this app installed.

Part 3 speaking questions for practice

In your opinion, is it okay to allow students to have access to the Internet during class time or not?
Answer example: This is a controversial topic I must say. It has its pros and cons. On one hand, if students are allowed to use the Internet during class time they are likely to be distracted by things like videos, social media gossips and digital games. On the other hand, self-disciplined students can make good use of the Internet during class time by searching for additional information and broadening their horizons regarding what the teacher is teaching. I think it is all down to self-discipline. I think it should be allowed, especially for older students like Middle and High School students.

Do you agree with the opinion that the Internet has more negative effects on students than positive effects?
Answer example: M-m it's hard to say or draw a general conclusion because it really depends on individuals and the orientation from teachers and parents. The internet has a lot of positive things that students can benefit from like online libraries, free tutorials, free lessons, etc. But if left unguided young Internet users can go easily go astray and become vulnerable to cyber criminals and misinformation. My opinion is that there are more positive things a student can do with the Internet if well oriented.

What do you think will happen in the future if every one relies on the Internet for every thing?
Answer example: First and foremost, let me say it is almost the case already. The Internet right now is already almost indispensable. With the availability of 4G and 5G technology now, most people are permanently connected to the Internet even when they are sleeping. We need it when we drive, when we shop, when we make payments, etc. This will only continue into the future with the emergence of smart homes and smart cars. I just think in future there will be the risk of more cyber crime which is very difficult to combat. With the use of the Internet one had almost no privacy nowadays. In the future we may become like robots that can be manipulated at will because of too much dependence on the Internet.

Should the use of the Internet be regulated?
Answer example: Absolutely. It should. Like everything else in the society where we live we need good rules to guide and protect Internet users. Governments should be able to track, catch and punish cyber criminals like hackers, scammers, swindlers, bullies, etc. If the Internet is not regulated there will be anarchy and rich big tech companies will exploit the poor to death.

You can listen to the audio version of these questions and answers on Episode 189 of our English podcast at this link.