The website you are currently visiting would not have been possible without the invaluable help of Michael Willmott, a tech entrepreneur, astute businessman and all-round excellent human being who I had the pleasure of meeting during my time at Imperial College London.
Michael's own knowledge of the use of technology in education is vastly superior to my own, and his company Knodium has recently been named the Tech City News startup of the week.
Knodium is an innovative online collaborative learning platform that not only allows students to have online conversations and discussions about their studies but also facilitates file sharing and taking exerts from documents. It even allows science students to use a chemical editor and LaTex.
As someone who can (just about) remember the era when personal computers were often barely more than fancy typewriters, the potential educational power of the internet continues to amaze me. The sheer volume of information that can be accessed is still breathtaking and I can think of numerous occasions in tutorials when interactive online material has engaged students in ways a textbook would struggle to do.
I have also encountered numerous students who struggle to connect with their peers offline - students who are isolated due to illness, learning conditions such as autism, people who have recently moved to a new country and are still learning their new language etc. For these people the online world is not just an unparalleled education resource but also an invaluable protection against complete isolation.