Tools to Be Successful in Online Education

Today I have Karen Falgore as guest blogger. Please be sure to check out her unique guest post. Guest posts are always welcome, please contact me.

In today's world, many students earn their education online. There are many courses offered online that cover a wide range of subjects.  Due to the advantages of studying online, students flock to the Internet to learn about their favorite subjects. There are even universities that offer online education to non-traditional students. Since the inception of these schools, people who have full-time jobs have been given the opportunity to get their degrees through online courses and programs. Although there have been debates regarding the credibility of studying online versus studying at brick and mortar schools, more people have shown support for online education.

This is why a lot of online educational tools are made available by various software developers. There are tools specifically designed for different areas like sharing and collaborating, search engines, open courseware, academic video sites, online lectures, online reference materials, social media tools and professional education networks.  For more information on obtaining on online education, please click here.

In the area of sharing and collaborating in an academic environment, there are two tools that are helpful for students and educators. The first one is the Apple Learning Interchange. This tool is perfect for sharing and creating lessons along with activities.

The other tool is iBerry, which is also good for teachers and students. It is a one-stop portal for everything related to academia. On the iBerry site, there are websites, blogs and courseware. Also, it aggregates the latest blogs and updates found on the Internet, and their resources are useful to both the students and educators. Once the users get on iBerry, it is expected that they can obtain almost all of the information they need to succeed in their programs.

In regards to online lectures, there are three notable tools that everyone can use, and they are Academic Earth, Forum Network and MIT World.

Academic Earth is a website where you can find entire courses and video lectures from some of the best universities around the globe.

Forum Network is a site that provides free video lectures from notable persons, respected speakers and other experts. However, this website doesn’t have all the subjects typically offered in universities as it is originally created for people who are interested in the sciences only.

Finally, MIT World is a site where MIT publishes all open lectures and events that happened on site at MIT. Since MIT has a lot of the leading experts in the sciences, users can be sure that the information is reliable.

The last set of tools is open courseware. There are many open courseware options, but only a select  few are good. There is Stanford Engineering Everywhere, which gives you access to courses in artificial intelligence, electrical engineering and computer science courses. At the same time, Harvard Medical School Open Courseware Initiative is the perfect tool for those who are currently studying medicine or planning to get into the medical field.

The aforementioned tools are just some of the applications that students who are studying online can use. Hundreds of new tools and resources are introduced to the online community every day so there is no limit when it comes to resources. As long as the students choose their tools wisely, they are going to find something that can help with their studies. 

About the Author
Karen Falgore is the Online Ambassador for Liberty University’s online education and academic programs. She is passionate about education, weekends at Busch Gardens theme park, and finding the perfect spa treatment.  For more information on obtaining your degree on line please visit Liberty University Online.   
                                                        
Many thanks to Karen.
Enjoy your reading!