Useful, Free Web Tools For Lifelong Learners

Hi All,

You've heard about it and read about it on the web and in magazines and in school and on tv...lifelong learning. Its not just a fad - its here to stay - and now with this extensive set of link (all from one page I might add) you don't have any reason for your life and your career not to soar anymore!

What is distance learning or distance education?  Click on this link from Wikipedia which discusses the comprehensive nature of the phrase. The  link also has explanations of what an open college is, what an open university is, criticisms of distance learning and benefits of distance education.

More to the point though, click on this link of 100 Useful, Free Web Tools For Lifetime Learners from  AdvangateEdu.com.

My favorites are: MIT Open Courseware, Open Courseware Consortium,  Tufts University Open Courseware, and the University of Pennsylvania Online Books Page.

Okay...one more...the Open Education Database link is very, very useful and well, educational!

Enjoy the links and the classes - and remember, the classes are free!

Regards,
Stu

Hi All,

You've probably hear about them on the radio or possibly in a newspaper or magazine article somewhere.   They do surveys, studies, research and more.  Who - or what organization - am I talking about?  Gallup - that's who.  

As their website says, 'Gallup delivers analytics (statistics) and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organizations in the world.' 

Users can visit the website for free.  Of course their is a fee version which companies and organizations purchase for research.  Upon visiting the site users are faced with a window called 'Gallup Daily' which has all sorts of statistics....for example there is data on people engaged at work, payroll to population, economic confidence and more....

There are links to the latest news article on the left side of the screen.

The 'Topics' icon at the top of the page opens so users can choose areas of interest - for example there are options for the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Economy, Education, Politics and much more.

Upon clicking on a particular topic - I chose Education for this tutorial - users are brought to another page where you can sign up for the latest news via email, and read articles. 

Examples of articles include, 'Asking a Simple Question Can Change Everything For a Student', 'Don't Wait Until the End of the School Year to Recognize Teachers' and 'Six Things the Most Engaged Schools Do Differently'.

Users can use the Trends A-Z option which enables users to explore all Gallup trends in one place. For example there are options for topics as varied as Alcohol and Drinking, Country Ratings, Crime, Economy, Medicare, Religion and many more.

Gallup.com might be best used by high school and/or college students and adults looking for statistics and information behind various current events and popular topics.

Enjoy the site and the graphs and the charts and the data!

Regards,
Stu

Hi All,

School and schooling is important - for kids - obviously.  Heck, without schools kids wouldn't be growing up with the skills they need to become productive, vital adults and human beings.  Imagine a world where there were no schools or colleges?  Yup - it would pretty much be chaos and not a good world to live in!

Anyway, I just found a website where users can find and share information about schools - the site is called Great!Schools.org and is easy to navigate and search.

Upon visiting the site, users can 'Find a School', 'Review Your School', and 'Discover'.  A bit further down on the page is a link to Great!Kids Milestones - which has lots of videos about the various milestones that kids should be reaching at various ages'. Note that users can select milestones by grade - which go up to 5th grade.


Users can enter a city name, zip code, address or school name when visiting the sites homepage.  Upon entering the information users come to a new page which explains what grades the school covers, whether or not the school is public or private, the location of the school, contact information and the number of students that are enrolled in the school.

Further down on the page are links for an Overview of the school, Reviews of the school, Quality of the school and Details of the school.

Users of Great!Schools.org can also sign in using Facebook or create an account with Great!Schools if they so choose.  Finally, users can get Great!Schools best articles, worksheet, and more delivered weekly to your inbox by clicking on this link!

In a future blog post, I am going to introduce another school-education related website: the New York State Report Cards section of the  New York State Department of Education website!  Its a very timely, information and well organized website run by the NYS Department of Education!

Enjoy Great!Schools.org and stay tuned for the next blog post about the NYS Report Cards!

Regards,

Stu

Hi All,

What does the number 529 mean to you?  Is it a batting average or a birthdate?  In terms of education - specifically your children - does it mean anything? Well...it does have a pretty darn important meaning if you want to send your children to college. 

A 529 plan is a college savings plan that is a tax-advantaged program that is created to help families save for a child's future education expense. (The name '529' comes from the IRS Code section that specifies the plans' tax advantages.)

Click on this link to learn about the general characteristics of 529 college savings plans, how it can help you save for college, what kinds of plans are available and choosing a 529 plan. In addition, this website has links for parents, grandparents and family & friends.

And, since many folks - okay, probably 95% of you - who read this blog live in Farmingdale/Long Island area, you might want to visit the New York State site for 529 plans.  Clicking on this link enables users to learn about the plan benefits, investments, open an account, a section of FAQ's and resources about 'all-things-529-related'. 

Finally, readers would be well advised to take a look at the site called 'Savingforcollege.com' - this particular link has an entry called 'Which is the best 529 plan available?' Alternatively, users can click on this link from the Huffington Post, titled, 'The Best and Worst 529 College Saving Plans of 2014'.

Finally, to learn more about the best and worst 529 plans, users can do a simple Google search for the phrase 'New York State 529 Plans Best Worst'.

Hope the post was educational and helpful.

Regards,

Stu

Best Of Long Island Press Winners - 2012!

Hi All,

It's official - the votes have been tallied, counted once, twice and probably even thrice. The winners are in - I repeat, the winners are in.

What am I talking about you ask? The 2012 edition of the Best of LI Press winners.

A total of 362 categories were polled (79 new ones!) and over 1.2 million total votes were cast. That - as the LI Press website proclaims - was about 50% more votes cast than in 2011.

The Long Island Press says that the survey was so big they had to put the BOLI (best of Long Island) in 3 separate issues.

Part I features winners in the following categories: Automotive, Education, Health-Wellness-Beauty, Home and Garden, Pets, Services and Shopping.

Part II features winners in the following categories: Food and Drink, Sports and Activities, Restaurants, Nightlife and Spirits, Art and Entertainment, and Clothing

Part III features winners in the following categories: Best of the Best Winners which spotlights the top 20 vote-getters in the whole contest and Best of LI Weddings.

And just to show you that the survey is remarkably thorough and comprehensive, I'm going to list the categories in the Education section. Categories were: arts schools, catholic schools, college president, college sports program, high school spirit, learning center business, Long Island College or University, nursery school, school principal, teacher, and trade school.

Now that is quite a comprehensive list!
Enjoy the links - hope they help you finding the best of whatever it is that you are looking for!

Regards,
Stu