Affordable Online Education Blog : Free Stuff

Free Credit by Exam

irishmum78 — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 15:30:00 GMT

There is a new way of earning college credit by exam, and for a limited time, it's free. It is called UExcel, and it has been developed by Excelsior College and Pearson VUE. The new program is currently being tested, and students can sign up to take a free exam at one of 1,000 testing centers around the world at no cost.

To take advantage of the free offer, just register to take one of the beta exams in Calculus, Physics, Political Science or Psychology. After signing up for a user name at the Web site, you can register for an exam and then enter the promotional code UEXCELFREE at checkout. Due to the number of people trying to register, it might take several attempts to use the promo code. Using the promo code will save you $85.00 on the cost of the exam.

Excelsior and PearsonVUE say nearly 3,000 colleges and universities accept credit-by-exam credits, and the UExcel credits will be treated like any CLEP or DANTES exam credit. UExcel will send a transcript to any school you designate, and if your school needs more information about the exam they can check the UExcel Web site or contact the Assessment Unit at Excelsior College at 1-888-647-2388 (ext. 166).

The free credit-by-exam promotion is only running for a limited time. It is set to expire September 30^th, 2008, or until Excelsior decides it has collected enough data for analysis. Because the program is in beta testing, students will not receive scores at the testing center. Instead, they must wait until all beta participants have taken their exams. Exam results will be mailed to the student within four months of the exam date. Students will also be able to check their exam scores online at that time at www.pearsonvue.com.

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Calling All Students: $4,500 Giveaway

irishmum78 — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:59:00 GMT

eLearners.com is sponsoring another giveaway. Last time, they teamed up with Woman's World magazine to give $1,500 to an online student, but today they're working with Oprah.com to give an online student 3 times that. Applicants are asked to write an essay that is 4,000 characters or less about "how online education would enable you to attain your goals."

On the Oprah.com site, you can find an application to apply to win $4,500 for school. Get there even faster by click the link to eLearners.com's site on Oprah.com.

To anyone who enters, good luck!

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Free Online Study Resources

irishmum78 — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 12:00:00 GMT

If there is one word I love when I am looking for study materials to prepare for a CLEP exam or to get more background on a course I'm taking, it's "free". Luckily, there are many helpful web sites which can help distance learning students without causing them to dig deeper into their pockets.

One of my favorite finds is the Online Education Database
(http://oedb.org/library/features/236-open-courseware-collections). It's a clearinghouse of more than 230 open courseware classes, podcasts and videos. You'll find free courses from Columbia University, the BBC, the University of Texas-Austin as well as free online audio books, videos and textbooks. Whether you are studying for a CLEP or DANTES exam or are just looking to learn something new, the Online Education Database should keep you busy for a long time.

A similar resource is INFOMINE (http://infomine.ucr.edu/). It was developed by the Regents of the University of California, and is a sort of search engine for online reference materials. What's great about INFOMINE is if there is a particular resource that isn't available online, INFOMINE will tell you where it can be found, pointing the way to specific libraries or government agencies where you can request the material.

Bookrags.com (http://www.bookrags.com/) is a great study resource for literature guides, essays, biographies and research materials. It even features a bibliography generator. Just plug in the ISBN number of the book for which you need a bibliography and it will format it in MPA, APA or other bibliography styles. I also like the encyclopedia feature, which has free as well as premium entries you have to pay for.

Everybody is familiar with CliffsNotes, but did you know they have a great web site with plenty of free material available? Aside from the usual literature notes, CliffsNotes.com also has study guides for algebra, biology, chemistry and other subjects. The online CliffsNotes don't go into great detail, but if you are looking to do some quick review studying before taking an exam, it's great.

Still looking for free in-depth literature summaries? If you were supposed to read "The Glass Menagerie" last week but only got halfway through it, Litsum.com can help. Litsum is chock full of free literature summaries, analysis and study guides. Bibliomania.com has similar study resources and both are very helpful.

There literally is no limit to the amount of free resources available on the Internet to help you learn something new, study for an exam or broaden your knowledge in a certain subject. You just have to know where to look for it ... and chances are it's free!

Happy Learning!

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Free online courses in digital scrapbooking, digital photography, genealogy, and at-home publishing!

helenh — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 13:14:00 GMT

Free online, instructor-led courses offered by Epson for busy moms, parents, grandparents, students, and amateur photographers!

Genealogy in a Wired World
Find out how you can use the Internet to trace your family tree.

Set Up a Home Print Shop for Flyers, Newsletters, and More
Bring home the power of desktop publishing. Create eye-catching newsletters, Christmas cards, invitations, scrapbook pages, and more.

Getting Started with Digital Scrapbooking
This hands-on course introduces you to the fascinating world of digital scrapbooking.

Digital Photography Made Simple
Want to get better results from your digital camera? Improve your photography skills so you can capture professional-quality digital images.

Go to www.creativelearningzone.com!

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Getting Families Synched Up

irishmum78 — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 20:25:00 GMT

As a student continuing their education online, staying organized is extremely important at any age and at any educational level. Keeping life in order can sometimes be difficult, especially for those with families! Oftentimes flimsy paper calendars and Post-it® notes are used to try and keep track of who needs to be where and when.

There are many new technologies available that can aid families with the potential for organizational disaster. One solution is to use Google Calendar, an online calendar tool provided by Google, or Microsoft Outlook’s calendar. Another much more expensive solution would be to purchase an HP TouchSmart.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article reviewing a new and free calendar software called Cozi Central. It is a downloadable calendar program that works on most Windows PCs and is a less expensive alternative to the TouchSmart. Cozi provides many features to aid with organization such as a built-in family messaging system and shopping or to-do lists that are editable by the entire family. Cozi can also be set to automatically synchronize with Microsoft Outlook calendars.

Web-based version of Cozi is available, so any family member can check the calendar even if they’re not at home, and it can send schedules and shopping lists to a cell phone via a text message or an audible text-to-speech program. The Windows PC version and the Web-based version sync up with one another making it easy for family members to check the calendar from anywhere.

Juggling tasks that involve work, school and family life can be extremely daunting and the need for an effective and easy to use "family calendar" is clear. Whether you are going to use Google’s Calendar, Cozi or any other organizational program, everyone, especially online learners, should invest some time into a calendar!

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