The thirst for knowledge has no boundaries

The new Rwf500 note is already in circulation. On one side, it has a picture of primary school children using laptops. If you ever needed a sign of changing times then it might as well just be in your wallet as you read this.The first issue of Education Times this month delves into the debate on whether students and researchers are relying more on online material or sticking with the bulky books that dominate library shelves all over the world. He was wise whoever said that if you do not change then change will change you. Technological advancements have forced a change in the way things educational are done. Much as some people may still cherish the smell of new book or even an old one, it is now much easier to find information while seated in front of a computer. Not only are most of the most books now accessible online, our lives have also moved towards the internet especially with the mobile phone revolution that has placed information in our palms. It is still possible to do research by looking at old books but the abundance and speed that comes with online information is so hard to resist.At the end of the day we are driven by the thirst for knowledge and like any hungry or thirsty man the route to take is the shorter one that provides more. And that is where online beats the books. The truth is that this trend one dimensional and keeps increasing by the day. The focus therefore should not be on how one gets information but that he/she actually gets that information. In an era of Google, Wikipedia, and Amazon, kindles iPads and broadband internet then digital simply takes the day.