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Text 1
Revision Time Goes Online
by Tim Ewington
Home learning is
critical to exam success and the computer industry is
strengthening links between family and school. Free
internet access at home is a huge step in making online
education accessible to everybody. As students start
to sweat in the run-up to their exams, many of them
are turning to the web to supplement their knowledge.
The following text is a description of some websites
of this in Britain.
The tension is rising in
the Kelly household. Two dates are ingrained in the
family's collective consciousness: May 22 and June 19.
They mark the first and the last of Paula's written
GCSE1 exams. "All the time I feel that
I need to do a lot more revision. I know I must get
down to it," says 15-year-old Paula, who is a student
at Victoria College in Belfast. "It's not so much
my parents who are putting pressure on me, though I
know my mum's a bit uptight, but I have two older brothers
and a sister and they all say that they were doing a
lot more revision at this stage than I am."
Across the country, 700
000 students and their families will heave a collective
sigh of relief when the exam season comes to an end.
"Even my granny is telling me to do more revision,"
says another 15-year-old, Steve Burgess from West Yorkshire,
who is sitting nine GCSEs. "The dog seems to be
the only one who doesn't use the dreaded ‘R' word every
time he sees me."
When exams were invented
so too was revision, but two inventions have transformed
the way we prepare. A generation ago, revision notes
became a lucrative industry, published under such imprints
as Brodie's and York. The second, to which Paula and
Steve's generation is turning, is the internet.
The leading exam revision
site is GCSE Bitesize, from the BBC. It received almost
750 000 hits each week in mid-March, and expects to
double that number this month. Channel 4's more broadly
based service, Homework High, which helps students aged
9 —16 with their homework, is claiming up to 1.3m hits
per week.
The demand has put tremendous
pressures on both services. "Every day we have
more than 3 000 kids trying to ask our teachers a question
online," says Paul Ashton, the commissioning editor
for special projects at Channel 4, "but the most
we can manage is 300 answers. We also had to close the
chat rooms because they were far too successful. As
more students joined in, new chat rooms automatically
opened, and at one stage we had 30 chat rooms supervised
by only one moderator.
There are good reasons
for this phenomenal demand. Students are one of the
groups most likely to have access to the internet in
Britain. Research recently conducted by NOP Kidsnet
shows that 57% of school-age children can now access
to the internet either at home or school, up from 51%
just six months ago. Internet penetration rises to more
than 70% for 15- and 16-year-olds who are studying for
GCSEs, in contrast to less than 30% of the population
as a whole.
Feedback shows that important
student needs are being satisfied by the internet. Websites
provide information, support and encouragement when
parents aren't around; students having difficulties
in particular subjects can choose their own pace, away
from the classroom, to study examples, tests and explanations
on the web; students who are missing school through
illness can keep up. Of most concern, many students
say that websites provide better resources and support
in the lead-up to exams than their weaker teachers.
Paula Kelly is sanguine
about online revision. "I have used the sites a
bit, but not that often. They have really helped in
specific areas, such as science—it is so useful to see
exam questions and ideal responses as a guide, particularly
when you are less confident in that area. I do get frustrated,
though, when I know what I want is out there but it
takes a long time to find."
Judith Addley, one of Paula's
teachers, reflects the views of many professionals.
"Revision sites don't replace traditional approaches
such as note-taking and practicing exam papers—nothing
can do that—and they certainly aren't a substitute for
hard work. But Bitesize and the rest are a really good
part of the mix and I am sure that they will become
better in the future."
We all know that revision
is boring, but because the online approach can be quite
different from that of a teacher, studying alone can
break a mental log jam. Steve Burgess, who is finding
the revision of factual subjects such as history and
geography hard to face, says: "After reading and
writing notes for a few hours, it's great to revise
on the computer. The sites are more interactive, with
tests that the computer marks and perfect answers so
you know what you're aiming for."
He is far more effusive
about revising online than Paula. "I found it so
difficult to start revising, but I have used the websites
most days. When I sit with books and notes and try to
learn them, my mind starts wandering after 10 minutes,
but I like computers and because I have to move around
the site and fill in the answers, it keeps me going.
If I haven't touched the keyboard or the mouse after
60 seconds, I can't hide from the fact that I'm doing
nothing."
In surveys, helping their
child's education is the most important reason parents
give for buying computers with net capability, so demand
for online revision and homework services is set to
grow. With the government's information-technology initiatives
taking effect, the number of students with net access
at school has now overtaken those with access at home,
and, one way or another, three quarters of school-age
children are expected to be online within the next year.
Though only two years old,
the BBC's GCSE Bitesize is the daddy of internet sites
for schools. As the name suggests, it provides revision
in chunks that are easy to digest, covering 11 key subjects
closely matched to the national curriculum.
"Bitesize was initially
targeted to help every student using the service to
gain at least a grade C," says Frank Flynn, the
head of commissioning for schools and colleges at the
BBC. "Since the launch, we have added more stretching
material. Our long-term aim is to raise the standards
achieved. We have a proven ability to do so."
Among educators, there
is much debate about the effectiveness of learning with
a computer. What is clear is that the quality of the
content and the nature of the interactivity involved
is critical. Simply sitting in front of a PC—surprise,
surprise—does not help a student learn, but certain
types of computer-based interactive exercises are particularly
effective, especially for students who find it difficult
to acquire knowledge through reading and listening.
The BBC has already extended
its service to help Key Stages 2 and 3 students facing
exams this month and has ambitious plans for the future.
In four years' time, BBC Online's content will cover
most of the national curriculum, from the age of five
through to GCSEs. Flynn explains: "We want to provide
comprehensive, integrated learning packages that will
build a bridge between home—and school-based activities.
We want our online materials to draw in students who
are in danger of being turned off learning but also
to allow more ambitious students to approach the whole
curriculum at their own pace."
Channel 4's Homework High
is more funky. Five cartoon-style characters inhabit
the school, representing English, maths, science, geography
and history. The site shows no
lack of confidence, describing itself as the world's
best homework website. It is very good. Students can
ask questions at the end of school, between 4pm and
5.30pm, or at home between 6.30pm and 9pm Monday to
Thursday. If your question is accepted, it will be answered
within 24 hours, faster than on other free sites, and
the quality of the answers is high. The level of demand
means you have only a one in 10 chance of receiving
a reply, but the reserve of 10 000 answers that has
already been built up means that there should be solid,
if less specific, help in most areas.
"We are very careful
about the answers given," says Paul Ashton of Channel
4. "We provide colloquial advice so that students
receive immediately useful help but can't simply copy
the answer into an essay. They have to think about the
response, what it means, and then mould it into their
work."
Homework High is expanding
to catch up with demand. New teachers are on their way,
the service is being extended to Sundays and students'
questions will be answered by star guests as diverse
as poets and scientists, to offer a contrasting style
of answer to those of teachers. The chat rooms will
be more controlled and there will be rooms for both
students and parents—separate, of course.
In the meantime, let's wish every
success to Paula, Steve and all those students and their
families facing their final weeks of revision leading
up to GCSEs.
(1461 words) TOP
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课文一
网上复习时间
蒂姆·埃云顿
课后学习对考试的成功十分关键，而电脑业正加强家庭与学校之间的联系。在家免费上网是使人人都可获得网上教育方面的一大进展。当学生紧张地准备考试时，他们中很多人转向网络，来补充他们的知识，以下课文描述英国一些这样的网址。
凯利家中的气氛渐渐紧张起来。5月22日和6月19日这两个日子深深根植在一家人集体意识之中。这两个日子标志着波拉的普通教育证书第一门和最后一门考试。贝尔法斯特维多利亚学院的15岁学生波拉说，“我一直觉得我需要更多的复习。我知道我必须着手复习。”“并不是我父母给我施加压力，尽管我知道妈妈有点紧张，但我有两个哥哥和一个姐姐，他们都说他们以前在这一阶段比我的复习要多得多。”
在考试季节结束时，全国上下七十万名学生及家长都会一起松一口气。西约克郡的斯狄弗·波格斯，15岁，正参加普通教育证书的九门考试，他说，“连我奶奶也在叫我多复习。”“每次见到我时不用可怕的‘复习’这个词的，似乎只有这条狗。”
自从有了考试，就有了复习，但两项发明改变了我们准备考试的方法。以前的一代，复习资料是有利可图的产业，出版时印有布罗狄和约克这样的字样。波拉与斯狄弗这一代人采用的是第二项发明，国际互联网。
最主要的复习网址是英国广播公司的普通教育证书比特塞斯（GCSE Bitesize）。3月中旬该网址每周接受750000次点击，而且本月有望该数字加倍。电视4频道的家庭作业（Homework
High）的服务范围更加广泛，帮助9至16岁的学生做家庭作业，每周点击次数达到130万次。
这样的需求给两项服务施加了很大压力。“每天有3000名孩子在网上向我们的教师提一个问题，”4频道特别节目责任编辑保罗·阿失顿说，“但是我们最多只能解答300个问题。同时我们不得不关闭那些聊天室，因为它们太成功。随着更多的学生参与，新的聊天室自动开辟，有一段时间我们有30个聊天室，却仅由一名监管员来监管。”
这一巨大的需求事出有因。在英国，学生是最有可能使用国际互联网的群体之一。最近，由诺普儿童网站（NOP Kids.net）进行的研究表明，57%的学龄儿童既可在家里也可在学校上互联网。而就在6个月前，是51%。正在准备普通教育证书考试的15至16岁学生上互联网的比例上升到了70%，相比之下，总人口的上网率不到30%。
信息反馈表明，互联网正在满足重要的学生需求。父母不在时，网络给学生提供信息、支持与鼓励；某门功课有困难的学生离开课堂后，可在网上按照自己的进度学习实例、测试及讲解；因生病而缺课的学生，可以通过网上学习而跟上进度。最受人关注的是，许多学生说，在准备考试时网络能比那些不太称职的教师提供更好的资源和支持。
波拉·凯利对网上复习持乐观态度。“我用过一些网址,但不那么频繁。在具体的科目，比如理工课程，这些网站的确能提供帮助,——在网上看考题及理想的解答作为指导，非常有用，特别是你对那门功课把握不大时,。不过，我也感到沮丧，因为尽管我知道我所需要的东西就在那儿，但必须花很长时间才能找到。”
波拉的老师朱迪斯·艾得利的话反映了许多教育工作者的观点，“复习网址替代不了传统的方法，如记笔记和做模拟试卷练习等——没有东西能代替这些——并且，网上复习肯定不能代替努力学习。但是，比特塞斯以及其它一些网站确是各种因素混合体中挺不错的一部分，而且我确信它们在将来会变得更加完善。”
我们都知道复习是乏味的，但是因为网上的方法与教师的方法之间可以有很大差异，独自学习就可以打破头脑中的信息堵塞。斯狄弗·波格斯发现历史与地理这种以事实为主的课程很难复习。他说，“几个小时的阅读和记笔记后，在电脑上复习太好了。这些网站有更多的交互作用，配有测试题、电脑批阅、还有完整的答案，因此你知道你的目标是什么。”
他比波拉更热衷于网上复习。“我过去觉得很难着手复习，但现在我大多数日子都使用网络。当我拿起书和笔记坐下来学习时，10分钟后我就开始走神。可我喜欢电脑。因为我必须在网上浏览，填出答案，这样就使我学下去。如果60秒钟后我还没摸键盘或鼠标，我就不能回避自己什么事情也没干这个事实。”
据调查，帮助孩子的教育是父母购买能上网的电脑的重要原因，因此网上复习与家庭作业服务的要求将会增多。随着政府信息技术启动计划实施，能在学校上网的学生数目超过了在家的数目，不管怎样，明年将有3/4的学龄儿童可望上网。
尽管成立只有两周年，英国广播公司普通教育证书比特塞斯网站，已成为为学校建立的互联网站之父。正如它的名字显示的，它提供的一块块复习内容易于消化，涵盖了与全国教学计划紧密匹配的11个主要科目。
“比特塞斯（Bitesize）最初的目标，是要让使用这一服务的每一位学生起码获得C等成绩，”英国广播公司负责学校与学院的弗兰克·弗林说。“自从开创这一网址以来，我们已增加了更多的补充资料。我们的远期目标是提高现有水平，我们已证明有这样做的能力。”
教育者在用电脑学习的效果问题上有很大分歧。人们清楚的是，内容的质量及涉及的互动性的性质非常重要。简单地坐在一台个人电脑前面——惊奇、惊奇——并不能帮助学生学习，但某些基于电脑的交互式练习特别有效，对那些感到通过阅读和听讲难以获得知识的学生尤其是如此。
英国广播公司已经拓展了服务范围，帮助处于第二和第三关键阶段的学生面对这个月的考试，并且对未来的计划抱有雄心。四年之后，英国广播公司网上内容将覆盖大部分国家开设的课程，从5岁到普通教育证书的考试。弗林解释说：“我们想提供范围广泛，有机结合的整套内容，在家庭活动与学校活动之间建立一座桥梁。我们希望网上的资料能吸引那些有对学习失去兴趣的危险的学生，也能让较有抱负的学生根据自己的速度接触全部课程。”
4频道的家庭作业网站（Homework High）更加引人入胜。5位卡通式人物住在学校，代表英语、数学、科学、地理及历史。这一网站满怀信心，把自己描绘成世界上最好的家庭作业网址。它的确很好。学生可以周一至周四放学后的4点至5点半，或者在家中下午6点半到9点之间提问。如果你的问题被接受，就会在24小时内得到回答，比其它免费网站来得快，答案的质量也高。需求程度意味着你只有1/10的机会获得一个答复，但是已经建立的一万个答案储备意味着许多领域会有实实在在的帮助，虽然针对性欠缺了一点。
“我们对所提供的答案特别谨慎，”4频道的保罗·阿什顿说。“我们提供口头建议，以便学生马上可以获得有益的帮助，但不能简单地抄进论文。他们必须对答案进行思考，它的意思是什么，然后把它融进自己的作业。”
家庭作业网站（Homework High）正在发展，以跟上需求。会来新的老师，网上服务时间正延长到星期天，回答学生问题的将是不同类型的嘉宾如诗人和科学家，回答问题的风格与教师的形成对照。聊天室将得到进一步控制，将会有对学生与家长都开放的聊天室——当然是分开的。
同时，让我们祝波拉、斯狄弗和所有面临普通教育证书考试最后几周复习的学生及家长们获得圆满成功！
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Text 2
Teach Yourself the Lot
by Tim Ewington
It was in a cafe in a Yorkshire town
that my curiosity was first aroused. It offered plastic
table coverings, tea at 30p a mug, succulent bacon butties
and four computers. Above the hubbub of flat vowels
and teapots being filled, came the high-pitched scream
of a modem. Cuppas and computers—welcome to the cybercafe,
north-country style.
My expectations of an internet
cafe changed in a buttie's bite. The people clumped
around the computers were neither 17-year-old net surfers6
nor backpackers7 e-mailing their friends
in Australia. Instead, they were being used by Lucy,
a young mum working part-time as a nurse, who was examining
health sites related to the course she is studying;
Sarah, the mid-thirties manager of the next-door
tourist gift shop who was finding out more about Verona
for a talk at her Italian language class; Dave, shift
manager from the local paper mill, poring over an American
site describing how to improve production processes
that he had read about in a business magazine; and Justin,
a sales manager waiting for his next appointment by
indulging his passion for performance cars and peanut-butter
sandwiches.
After e-mailing easily
the most popular reason for using the net is research
for either work or education. Pursuing personal interests
comes next. This thirst for information online is stoking
a burgeoning knowledge economy. In a survey by the media
consultancy Human Capital, more than 80% of British
adults said that they yearn to discover more about specific
interests, and gave two main reasons: the desire to
develop their careers, and a passion for a topic of
personal fascination.
The largest numbers of
people want to pursue computers, languages, history,
the arts and science as a personal goal, but the range
of interests is astonishing... dog breeding, fluid dynamics
and Persian rugs, to name but a few. In a survey of
2 000 respondents chosen to reflect the make-up of the
adult population, more than a thousand interests are
mentioned. Our career-development goals are less eclectic,
and less clearly defined. Finding out about marketing,
accounting and human resources are popular objectives,
though the majority wants an introduction to the basics
rather than a high level of knowledge—for example, the
fundamentals of marketing known as the "four Ps"
(product, price, promotion and place) and how they apply
to everyday working life.
Many people, however, cannot
pin down exactly what they should do to advance themselves.
One consequence is that fewer than a quarter of us are
doing anything to do so. The reasons we give are predictable:
the pressures of work and family, the difficulties of
childcare, cost, the need to travel long distances and—most
important of all—lethargy. Pursuing your passion sounds
great until it means attending a further-education class
on a cold winter evening. We want the results, but won't
endure the pain needed to achieve them.
This is when the internet
proves its worth as a tutor. "The online world
can make a tremendous difference in helping people to
learn," says John Brown, director of lifelong learning
at the British Educational Communications Technology
Agency. "People are put off by grandiose institutions,
rigid timetables and intimidating courses. The internet
engages people and helps them embrace learning in really
exciting and innovative ways."
Adults with access to the
web at home are 75% more likely than non-users to say
that they are actively pursuing some specific kind of
knowledge. The question is whether adults who are already
motivated to learn are the first to hook up to the internet,
or whether plugging into the net prompts curiosity.
The answer seems to be a bit of both.
These adult careerists,
hobbyists and self-improvers agree that the net changes
their habits. It is flexible, allowing you to pursue
your interest when you choose, at your own pace, in
whatever direction takes your fancy. The internet does
not demand that you attend an institution each week.
You can fit the pursuit of knowledge into your current
lifestyle, around work and family commitment, and enjoy
a coffee or a whisky at the same time. It is children
who set the ball rolling in many households. The most
common reason that people buy a PC, according to the
research company Inteco, is to further the education
of their children. Parents anticipate that their children
will use the internet not only for schoolwork but to
pursue hobbies—even if these revolve round Leonardo DiCaprio websites. However, they rapidly realize that
they can exploit the internet to their own grown-up
ends.
"It's an interesting
dynamite," says Alan Clarke from the National Institute
of Continuing Adult Education. "Parents buy computers
because they know their kids have to understand the
internet. They see their kids doing the searches and
see how simple it is. Then they take their first steps
into subjects they have always found fascinating, but
have never dared plunge into before."
The everyday experiences
that whet an adult's thirst for discovery range from
television programmes, magazines and newspapers to exhibitions.
Channel 4's current series Six Experiments That
Changed the World inspired one viewer not only to
investigate the scientists who carried out the ground-breaking
investigations, but to conduct some of the simpler experiments
with his young daughter. When we feel inspired to learn,
we need to be able to act quickly and keep the momentum
going. Wait too long and we do nothing.
The internet is nothing
if not immediate. It is the perfect source of just-in-time
knowledge. "Having the internet in the house means
that the family has an incredibly powerful library,
sitting in the corner waiting to be used," says
Sue Phillips, a Birmingham mother of two whose family
has been online for the past year. "Last week,
I was listening to the radio about castles around the
country and a couple of websites were mentioned. I scribbled
them down and spent an hour on the internet looking
at these castles, their local area and the stories connecting
them."
Online learning is rapidly
coming to counteract some of the failings of
Britain's secondary-education system. It is not the
only answer, but since there is such a shortage of places
in most traditional adult-education colleges, and teacher
standards are a cause for concern, it is the ideal tutor
for engaging the attention of the less enthusiastic
learner. (One interesting piece of research shows that
by working online boys improve their literacy faster
than girls.)
The BBC is central to this
increasingly important role, and casts itself as popular
educator by building on the pillars of the corporation's
traditions of informing, educating and entertaining.
It is mobilizing sound and vision to exploit the full
powers of the internet. As BBC Television broadcasts
about 35 hours of factual programming each week, and
new digital channels such as BBC Knowledge are entirely
factual, the material is readily available for adapting
by BBC Online, which has quickly become Europe's most
popular website.
Michael Stevenson, director
of education at BBC, says: "In the future, if you
are watching a factual programme, we will be offering,
in parallel, engaging, interactive online packages that
will help you to learn more. You can take the journey
as far as tailor-made, online short courses. The content
of these courses will be built around the research carried
out for the development of the programme and may be
accredited by a university."
Before long, after you
have watched a factual programme, you will then be able
to take an online "learning journey". Glenwyn
Benson, head of science at the BBC, says: "Digital
television viewers will be able to use bookmarks during
our programmes, such as Walking with Dinosaurs. After
the programme the viewer will be able to click on the
bookmark and more information will be available on their
television. It might explain the scientific discoveries
that allowed us to create the lives of the dinosaurs,
for example. If you then want to go over to your PC,
you could build a dinosaur skeleton from its bones and
see what the creatures were really like."
Equally innovative online
ideas are being pursued to support career development.
Organisations such as the University for Industry, a
public-private partnership using modern technologies
to suit the needs of learners, are developing free,
online content to cover issues such as customer care,
team building, IT and basic finance. At a more exalted
level, Ivy League universities in America are pioneering
the most ambitious forms of online learning, aimed at
students anywhere in the world. Virtual courses, one-to-one
teaching and interactive care studies are available
over the internet—the English department at Cambridge
University offers a Virtual Classroom open to all—but
most are in their infancy.
In the UK, several universities
are developing online content, both to attract revenues
from distance learners and to open up e-commerce opportunities.
Coventry University has 2 000 course modules online.
"The internet is not going to replace the taught
course," says Rhonda Riachi, director
of the Association for Learning Technology, "but
there will be enormous changes." Students will
have far more flexibility in the options they can study,
they will not be tied to a campus and they will be able
to study with more than one institution.
What if you don't
have access to a computer at home or work? Even worse,
what if you are one of the 8m adults identified in the
Human Capital survey who have real fears about even
starting to use a computer? There are new ways that
you can defuse your fears. By spring, more than 250
Learndirect centres will have been set up around the
country by the University for Industry, designed to
help adults adjust to new technology.
That internet cafe in West
Yorkshire had better start planning to increase its
output of butties and cuppas.
(1635
words) TOP
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课文二
自己学习
麦特·米勒
最初引起我的好奇心的，是在约克郡的一个城镇的咖啡馆。这家咖啡馆提供塑料桌布、30便士一杯的茶、多汁的腊肉三明治及4台电脑。调制解调器的尖叫声，盖过了模糊的说话声和灌茶壶的喧闹声。茶和电脑——欢迎光临北方风味的电脑咖啡馆。
咬了一口三明治，我对互联网咖啡馆的期望就改变了。簇拥在电脑旁的人既不是17岁的网上冲浪者，也不是忙着给澳大利亚的朋友发电子邮件的背包旅行者。相反，这些电脑的使用者是：露西，一位做兼职护士的年轻母亲，正在查看与她所学课程有关的健康网站；莎拉，隔壁旅游纪念品商店35岁左右的经理，正在查找更多关于维罗那的资料，以便在她的意大利语课堂上谈话用；戴夫，当地造纸厂的值班经理，正在凝神查看一家关于改进生产流程的美国网站，他是从一本商业杂志上看到这个网站的；以及贾斯廷，一位等待下一次约会的销售经理，正满怀热情地沉湎于表演车和花生三明治。
除了发电子邮件方便以外，使用网络最普遍的原因是工作和教育方面的研究。其次是追求个人爱好的需要。对网上信息的渴望是给迅速发展的知识经济增加燃料。据传媒咨询公司人力资本的调查，80%以上的英国成年人认为，他们渴望对具体的爱好有更多的发现，并且说出了两个主要原因：发展事业的愿望，以及对个人感兴趣的话题充满激情。
大多数人把学习电脑、语言、历史、艺术及科学当作个人追求的目标，但兴趣范围之广泛令人吃惊：养狗、流体动力学、波斯地毯等，这只是几个例子罢了。在一项调查中，选择了2000名答卷人来反映成人的人口构成，结果说出来一千多种兴趣。而我们事业发展的目标却不这么兼收并蓄，也不这么明确。寻找关于市场、财会及人力资源的信息，是最流行的目标，尽管大多数人需要的是入门的基本知识而非高层次的知识——例如，市场的基本知识“4个P”（产品、价格、推销、地点），以及如何将它们运用到工作中去。
然而，许多人不能够确定，要提高自己该做些什么。一个结果是，不到3/4的人为了提高自己什么都做。我们所给的原因是可以预料的：工作和家庭的压力、养育孩子的困难、开支、长途旅行的需要、以及——最重要的一点——懒散。追求个人爱好听起来很棒，直到它意味着在寒冷的冬天参加继续教育课程就不是这样了。我们需要结果，但不愿意忍受获得这些结果所需要的吃苦。
这是国际互联网显示其指导教师价值的时候。“网络世界在帮助人们学习时起重大作用，”英国教育传播技术部终生学习主任约翰·布朗说。“庞大的机构，刻板的时间表以及可怕的功课使人望而却步。国际互联网吸引人们，并且帮助他们以真正令人激动而又富于创新的方法投身学习。”
具备家庭上网条件的成年人说自己正积极追求某种知识，比不上网的成年人这样说的可能性，要多出75%。问题在于，那些已经激发了学习动机的成年人是否是最早与国际互联网结缘的人，或者与互联网联接是否真能引发好奇心。答案是二者兼而有之。
这些追求事业、个人爱好以及自我完善的成年人赞同这样的说法，网络改变了他们的习惯。互联网具有灵活性，当你选择了爱好，就能使你追求自己的爱好，速度自定，想朝什么方向发展，就朝什么方向发展。国际互联网不要求你每周都参加某一个组织的活动。你可以把你对知识的追求融合到你当前的生活方式、工作与家庭义务之中，同时还可以享受一杯咖啡或威士忌。许多家庭中，开始接触互联网的是孩子。根据研究公司Inteco的调查，购买个人电脑最普遍原因,是为了促进孩子们的教育；家长们期望自己的孩子不仅能够使用国际互联网做功课，而且能够从事自己的业余爱好——即使一切都只是围绕着莱昂纳多·第凯普里网站（Leonardo
DiCaprio）。然而，他们很快意识到了国际互联网可以用于成人自己的目的。
“这是很有趣的极好的事情，”国家成人继续教育学院的艾伦·克拉克说。“家长购买电脑，因为他们知道孩子们必须懂得互联网，他们看着孩子在网上搜寻，发现这如此简单。于是他们就开始涉足那些他们一直感兴趣，却从未敢投身其中的领域。”
激发人们探索欲的日常经历，有电视节目、杂志、报纸及各种展览等。4频道当前的系列片《改变世界的六项实验》，就启发一位观众不仅对进行过开创性研究的科学家进行调查，而且同他小女儿一起进行一些较为简单的实验。当我们的学习热情被激发后，我们必须行动，使这种势头延续下去。等待太久我们就一事无成。
国际互联网的唯一价值就在于它的即时性。它是能够及时提供知识的完美渠道。柏明翰的苏·菲力甫是两个孩子的母亲，家里过去一年一直上网，她说，“房间里拥有国际互联网意味着家里拥有一座令人难以置信、作用非凡的图书馆，座落在房间一角，等待家人去使用。”“上周我从收音机里听到一个有关国内城堡的节目，提到了几个网址。我把网址匆匆记下来，然后花了一个小时在互联网上观看这些城堡，当地的环境以及相关的故事。”
网上学习正迅速抵消英国中等教育制度的弊端。它并非是唯一的解决方法，但既然大部分传统的成人教育学院如此人满为患，而且教师水平又令人担扰，网上学习成了吸引不太热心的学习者注意力的理想指导教师。（一项有趣的研究表明，通过网上学习，男孩的读写能力比女孩提高得更快。）
英国广播公司发挥这一日益重要的作用至关重要，它依靠公司的传播、教育及娱乐等传统支柱，把自己打造成一名受欢迎的教育者。它正动用声音和图象来充分利用国际互联网。由于英国广播公司电视每周播放35小时事实报道，并且像英国广播公司知识频道这样的新数字频道完全是事实性的，内容很容易为英国广播公司在线进行改编。英国广播公司在线很快成了欧洲最受欢迎的网站。
英国广播公司教育部主任麦克尔·斯迪文逊说，“将来，如果你在观看一个事实性节目，我们将同时提供成套的有吸引力的、交互式的学习内容，帮助你学得更多。你的旅行可以远至专为你而制作的在线短期课程。这些课程的内容将围绕为发展该节目进行的科研而定，并可以得到某一大学的认可。”
很快，你看完一个事实性节目后，便可以进行一次网上“学习旅游”。英国广播公司科学部主任格林温·本森说：“数码电视观众在我们的《与恐龙同行》这样的节目中可使用书签。节目之后，观众可以单击书签，更多的信息就会出现在他们的电视屏幕上。例如，它可以解释使我们可以构想恐龙生活的科学发现。如果你在此时想用你的个人电脑，你可以用恐龙的骨头制作一个恐龙骷髅，看看这些生物到底是什么模样。”
人们也在致力同样具有创新性的网上学习办法研究，来支持职业发展的需要。工业大学是用现代技术来满足学习者需要的公私合作者，像这样的组织正在开发免费的网上内容，涉及顾客服务、团队建设、信息技术以及基本财政等问题。在更高层次上，美国的常青藤名牌大学正开拓最为雄心勃勃的网上学习形式，目标是全世界任何地方的学生。虚拟课程，一对一教学以及交互式学习在网上随处可见——剑桥大学英语系提供了向所有人开放的虚拟课堂——但大部分网上学习形式都处于初创阶段。
在英国，有几所大学在开发网上内容，以便既从远程学习者那儿获得收入，也开辟电子商务机会。考文垂大学拥有2000个网上课程模块。“互联网不会代替面授课程，”学习技术协会主任荣达·瑞阿奇说，“但将有巨大的变化。”学生在学习选择方面将有更大的灵活性，同时不会受某一校园的束缚，并且能同时在一所以上的学府学习。
但是，如果你不能在家中或工作时使用电脑，怎么办呢？更糟的是，“人力资本”调查确定，有八百万成年人甚至连开始使用电脑都真的感到恐惧，如果你是其中一员，怎么办？别急，缓和恐惧有新招。到春天，工业大学将在全国建立250多个直接学习中心，专门帮助成人适应新的技术。
西约克郡那家互联网咖啡馆，最好是着手计划增加三明治和茶的供应。
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