Online Services 2

As we discussed in the previous lesson, online services are an integral part of our modern lives, and we use them every day.

We also looked at four online services. These were communication, real-time information, commerce, and government services.

In this lesson, we’ll learn about:

1. Education services
2. Virtual Learning Environments
3. Business services
4. Entertainment services
5. Download services

Education is a big growth area in online services. It concerns the use of the Internet for learning and training.

This could be used for distance learning degrees, exam preparation, or health and safety training for a new job.

There are more online education websites appearing all the time; you’re using an online education service right now, KnowItAll Ninja!

Common types of communication services include:

• Online learning websites
• Online training services

Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail.

Online Learning Websites

Helps students study for particular courses or learn new skills, such as studying for their GCSE exams. It can also be used for other things, such as distance learning, to gain professional qualifications or a degree.

Online Training Services

Learn work-based skills, such as induction training for a new job or completing specific work-based tasks correctly. This can be more cost-effective for a business than having its own internal training and also allows you to work at your own pace.

Virtual learning environments, often called VLEs, are another category of online service.

A VLE provides a virtual classroom online that lets teachers and their students communicate and share resources. Your school or college likely uses a VLE, the most popular being Moodle & Blackboard.

You can use it to access the presentations and worksheets your teacher used in the lesson, to submit work to your teacher, and receive feedback after they have marked your work.

This saves a lot of money from printing and lets students access lesson resources even from home.

Business services involve the use of websites and the Internet to make common business functions quicker and cheaper to perform.

These services also allow employees to work more flexibly, such as through teleworking.

Common types of business services include:

• Video conferencing
• Collaborative working
• Online business networks

Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail.

Video Conferencing

This lets us organise and run meetings with people based all around the world without having to travel.

Skype is a very well-known video conferencing tool. This saves time and money on travelling to hold meetings with people based in other locations.

Collaborative Working

Work together on a document with multiple other people at the same time. We often use this alongside video conferencing so we can talk while working on the same document.

Much like video conferencing this can allow employees to work together without being on the same site and so saves time and money on travel.

Online Business Networks

Make connections with people working in the same industry and find new clients by communicating with them and sharing ideas over the Internet.

Entertainment services are one of the biggest uses of online services and one that many of us use on a daily basis in our modern lives.

It involves the use of the internet for having fun and for our own leisure.

Common types of entertainment services include:

• Online multi-user games
• Online radio players

Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail.

Online Multi-User Games

These are extremely popular, such as online first-person shooters and role-playing games. Games such as Fortnite are popular online and are played by millions of people.

These games give you access to a worldwide audience to compete with rather than just playing with your local friends.

Online Radio Players

Along with music and video streaming services, this allows us to listen to the latest music and TV shows from wherever we are. Services like Apple Music & Spotify are examples of this.

These allow people to access a much wider variety of music than they would be able to with physical copies without spending a lot of money.

Download services involve the transferring of files over the internet to a person’s computer.

They are a controversial area of online services as they are often used for illegally sharing music, TV, and films, which is called copyright piracy.

However, they are used just as often for correct legal use and are an extremely useful service that we often use.

Common types of download services include:

• Music & film downloading
• Software & games downloading
• Software upgrades

Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail.

Music & Film Downloading

Services like iTunes allow you to purchase music & films and download them to your device, which could be your PC, tablet, or smartphone.

If you change devices for any reason, you can redownload your music or film to your new device. It also lets you buy music and film without leaving home, which is quicker and saves travel costs.

Software & Games Downloading

This is also growing in popularity now that superfast broadband connections are more readily available. Steam is a service that allows you to buy and download PC games.

This has very similar benefits to music & film downloading.

Software Upgrades

These can be downloaded to ensure you are running the latest version of the software and that any security issues are fixed quickly.

This has become more important with the growth of the internet as more security threats in software are identified.

Thanks to the ability to download upgrades and patches quickly, these security holes can be fixed as quickly as they are identified.

We use online services for education, such as online learning and online training.

We also use online services for virtual learning environments, which are also known as VLEs. VLEs are like virtual classrooms, allowing teachers and students to communicate.

We use online services for business, such as video conferencing, collaborative working, and business networks.

We use online services for entertainment, such as multi-user games, radio players, and video streaming.

Finally, we use online services to download music, films, software, and upgrades.

This adds to the four services we learned about in the previous lesson: communication, real-time information, commerce, and government services.