technology

There are many reasons to take an online study course, ranging from career enhancement to simply proving to yourself that you can do it. Many students around the world turn to UK distance learning providers, partly because of the course choice and partly because of the reputation of the institutions.

Anyone who is planning to study remotely towards an academic qualification will need to have a number of attributes in order to succeed. If you ask most prospective students which quality will be required most of all, the chances are they will say intelligence, or perhaps determination, but most people find they require self-discipline above all else.

The truth is that the most successful students are those who know when to study and when to say no to distractions. Over the course of the study period there will undoubtedly be times when tempting opportunities to socialise come along, and turning them down often becomes more difficult than following the intricacies of the course itself. Discipline is simply a must.

Thanks to the emergence of the web, potential students no longer have to sign up to full-time courses at universities. Remote learning is becoming increasingly popular in many countries around the world, and it's easy to see why. As long as you prepare properly and have somewhere to study, anyone can sign up to an interesting and rewarding course.

While many people feel the urge to attend a university or college on a full-time basis in order to fully absorb the student experience, there are a significant number who simply cannot spare the time, the commitment or the money to adopt such a strategy. There was a time when such individuals simply missed out on an education, but it's not the case anymore.

The advent of the internet has changed our lives in so many ways, but few can have been as gratefully welcomed as the chance to study remotely. Thanks to the web, students from any location in the world can sign up to a reputable course in a subject of their choice, thereby enhancing their career prospects without having to move abroad to do so.

When asked about your current job, it is almost compulsory to say: "it is fine", but I am looking for something better.

The Ernst & Young employees can say, I want to work for Google. But what would a Google employee say? Fortune's list of the best employers has been topped by Google for several consecutive years.

But, why do we all like Google? Probably for the same reason we like Christmas, or weddings. At either event, you are sure to gain something for little effort, which motivates us to participate and contribute towards the collective wealth.

At Christmas, children are asked to decorate the tree and adults are expected to bring their parents handy gifts such as a new baking oven. By offering a helping hand you can make a fortune - tons of cakes and sweets for the children, for example. The same applies to weddings. What do the adults look for at weddings? Maybe we should ask Owen Wilson.

In the UK we're lucky enough to enjoy a wide choice of broadband providers with a huge number of packages up for grabs. That's great because we get to select a service at whatever price suits our budget, but the array of options can be slightly bewildering.

And if it's confusing for those of us who have lived in the country for some time, the problem is worse for visitors, particularly students coming to the UK to study who already have enough to contend with. While libraries, coffee shops, universities and colleges all offer free Wi-Fi it's very useful, if not essential, to have your own connection at home.

If you're new to the country and looking to sign up for internet service, here's what you need to know about getting broadband in the UK as a student.

Broadband and Contracts

Signing up to a fixed line broadband service will involve some kind of commitment to stay with the provider for a set amount of time. If you break this contract by leaving early you are liable to be charged a fee for the remaining months.

This can obviously be problematic for students who may not be staying in one place for a long period of time, and don't typically have a lot of cash lying about.

I had just finished my shift and was looking for some quick lunch in the shopping centre. Walking past the grocery stalls, I spotted fresh strawberries. Having a pot of Greek-style yogurt in my bag, it would be a perfect match. What's more, the low calorie fruit allayed all my concerns about the healthy, but fatty Greek yogurt. Plus, strawberries remind me of my parent's garden in Slovakia.

All around me were people feeding on fast-food or overpriced sandwiches. Reading a paper newspaper did not help my image of the rebel against the establishment.

It got me thinking. We have sugar-free sweets, caffeine-free coffee, fat-free yogurt...why shouldn't we have bookless libraries. Although books should be cherished because they conserve the wisdom of the previous generation, they take up too much space in the modern lifestyle.

Maybe it is the devil of commercial culture, to have everything digital, but it is much more convenient to have the service at the library done from a desk computer. Less storage space will be reflected in lower costs.