With Internet use so pervasive in higher education, we asked our Web readers to answer this question:

How has the Internet changed your life in college or trade school?

Here are some of their answers. Readers are invited to add their own responses by e-mailing postscript@post-gazette.com. Be sure to include your full name and address.

Here are some of your responses:

I am about to finish my Masters in Information Systems from Strayer University Online. Except for my associate's degree, my whole college experience from Limestone College in Gaffney SC to my Masters has been Online. I could not have afforded to come this far any other way. My expenses for the whole journey have been what one year at Harvard would cost. The savings come from not paying Room, Board and travel to a brick and mortar campus. Both schools have brick and mortar campuses and over a century of existence each as academic institutions.

Our papers are routinely run through Turnitin.com so I am very careful to make sure sources are cited and what is there is mine. Its not worth the risk to buy a paper. The odds of getting caught are too great and the benefit is 0. If I bought, a paper to turn in I have gained no knowledge and spent a ton of money for nothing. I am 63 years old and disabled with emphysema and a heart condition. I am realizing my dream of a first class education and the only way to do that it will mean anything is through doing my own work. My GPA says it all. Associates MTCC 3.7, BS Computer Science Limestone 3.7 Cum Laud and my Current Strayer GPA 3.76. Hard work Pays off. -- Gerald Gumbert, Marion N.C.

The internet has made obtaining my bachelor's degree much easier. I am a registered nurse who went to a hospital diploma school right out of high school. I had started taking classes many years ago and then just quit because it was too hard trying to schedule classes while working full time and being a single mom.

Once my daughter graduated from Clemson University in 2005 with her bachelor's degree and was going to grad school, I decided it was time for me to complete my education. I investigated several different RN to BSN completion programs and found one at Drexel University in Philadelphia that was all online. I applied, was accepted and started taking classes in January 2006. We have "class" two to three times a quarter when we all have to be on the computer at the same time and the professor gives lectures. We are able to "raise our hands" by clicking on a hand button and she will call on you to comment. The syllabus and assignments are all posted on "Blackboard" and I submit all of my papers via the internet and take any tests online. I have access to the main library via the internet to research articles, etc.

We have discussions (via a discussion board) and I have class with people from all over the country. My current class has someone from Alaska in it. We do group projects and make power point presentations. I can access the discussion board, library, and course shell on Blackboard 24 hours a day. The professors are easy to get in touch with and some schedule "office hours" in a virtual classroom. I take one class a quarter usually and am considered a senior now. I plan on graduating in December 2008.

I have learned so much taking classes!! I love it!! You need to be self motivated in order to take classes online and be able to manage your time but it is worth it!! I am even considering taking classes for my Masters degree when I am done!! My first time stepping foot on campus will be when I receive my Bachelor's degree. -- Kathleen Morouse, Castle Shannon, Drexel University Student

When I was a freshman at IUP in Fall 1995, I had yet to use the Internet. I got a call from a friend at Slippery Rock and she asked if I'd received her email. I said "I don't know. How do I get email."?

Thanks (or maybe not) to her prodding I got my IUP email account set up and learned how to use the Web. Iim only 31, but now I feel old having just typed that. -- Kevin A. Gray, media relations manager, Angie's List

The Internet hasn't personally revolutionized much of my daily collegiate life, because for our generation, it's always been a fast, easy and available solution to answering any question we could possibly think of. However, compared to my parents' and grandparents' generations, we have more access to news, research and social networks. My entire campus is wirelessly connected, and I email with friends at colleges around the world, access Facebook.com nearly every day and even read the Post Gazette and Associated Press wires from their respective websites. -- Kristin Kipke, Sewickley, E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University

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