One of the sure boons of the internet is the unrestrained access it provides every one of us to know each other! Take the case of different world languages, for instance, sitting at home, now you have access to tons of free language courses, including the ones you never heard of, say, Saami, Kanddana – ever heard the names before? I’ll be honest, I didn’t. Our forefathers never dared to imagine the kind of life we live today, and how could they? Since this series of silent revolutions began just 20 years ago. In less than two decades our world zoomed and there was no looking back ever since.

Learning about different people, their language and culture can’t be easier than it is today. There are literally hundreds of websites that provide you scores of courses on foreign languages. And if you are interested in any culture or civilization that is far and seemingly out of your reach, the internet is always there to help you gain insight into that alien culture: their values, norms and traditions. Unfortunately, we don’t appreciate this blessing of being able to learn so much for free: we take them for granted, as if browsing the internet is our birth right.

This invaluable access to a zillion bits of information that we cherish, comes with the help of internet. And we don’t tend to value this kind of online education. Browsing online, we can now reach the farthest corner of this planet in no time, and this is not a joke. No matter how simple and obvious it is, the power of the internet can never diminish in terms of value and relevance.

The problem lies in our attitude. We don’t value any activity that doesn’t pay us back in monetary terms. We work hard and acquire an accredited degree so that we can find a lucrative job, fine, It’s OK. But try to imagine the free benefits that we enjoy everyday without expense as well. I don’t buy the premise that e-learning happens only when you pay for a college to enroll and take classes under a trained teacher. The billions of articles, reviews, gossip posts (on almost every subject under the sun) that are available on millions of websites to be read by vagabond surfers like you and me does play a part in our lives that we unthinkingly ignore. I believe they deserve at least some credit for the contribution they makes to our reservoir of knowledge.