See if you are making some of these common mistakes in your writing, and try to remember these simple tricks to avoid them!

#1: Loose for lose

The ball came loose when the quarterback got sacked, but they didn’t lose the game.

#2: It’s for its (or god forbid, its’)

It’s just means “it is”.  Its means “belonging to”.  And there is absolutely, positively, no such word as its’.

A simple test: If you can replace it’s in your sentence with it is or it has, then your word is it’s; otherwise, your word is its.

#3: They’re for their for there

They’re means “they are”.  Their shows possession or belonging, as in “are you going to their meeting?”.  There means “over there”.

No: The managers are in there weekly planning meeting.

Yes: The managers are in their weekly planning meeting.

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If you have a ton of homework to get done (espcially in a class that isn’t very fun), it can be tempting to drag your feet before getting started.

Our brains are great at inventing little tasks to fill time when we want to avoid doing something.  Sure, I’ll just check some emails, chat a bit online, browse Facebook, etc.  Before you know it, and hour has passed and you haven’t even started!

Today I’m going to share with you the greatest single thing you can do to get more work done in less time: eliminate all distractions and interruptions when doing your homework.

Studies have shown that interruption is the greatest enemy of producivity.  Why?

Well, it takes our brains a while to get into a good rhythm when working on a problem.  You may have noticed this when writing or doing math problems.

The very first sentence or problem takes a disproportionate amount of time.  We might shuffle papers for a while, get comfortable in our seat, fidget and think for while, etc.  When we FINALLY manage to get the first sentence or problem done we are on a role. Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that Google can convert almost any unit for you?  Metric, standard, measurements, volumes, weights, time, you name it…

This can help you with science homework (and even some other things like cooking or calculating large numbers).  Just type it in and see what happens.  Here are a few examples…

That last one is useful if you want to see how much the recent government bailout is costing each tax payer, and your calculator doesn’t have enough digits

This is pretty neat.  I’ve been working on getting all the tutor data into Google Maps so that when people do searches there, our tutors will come up!

The image below gives you a rough idea of the wide range of tutors we have signed up now, and it will only continue to grow.  Click the image to try it out for yourself!

Some interesting websites have come out recently which allow people to collaborate in real time over the internet.

This obviously has some potential for online tutoring, but are they really ready?

Online tutoring has been “just around the corner” for a long time now, but the technology always seemed to get in the way:

• Writing math formulas and diagrams was always much faster by hand than over a computer screen
• Internet connections can get dropped or have delays
• Some solutions required custom software to be installed or for the user to be tech savvy in other ways

Here are some potential solutions I’ve seen come out recently.  These are all “web based” solutions which in my opinion is the only way this type of software will be successful.  By making it web based it eliminates the need for users to install any software, to both be on a certain type of operating system (Windows, Mac, etc), or to configure internet connection ports - problems which plague many screen sharing apps.  It also allows you to use any computer with an internet connection, so you can work at home, school, or wherever is convenient.

Adding an online tutoring option to CollegeStudentTutors.com is something I’d love to do given the right solution.

1. Thinkature.com

This nifty little app looks like it came out a few years ago.  It has a clean and simple interface and it’s free.  The only problem is that developmet on this app appears to have stopped.  After creating a new account I couldn’t get a new meeting set up (it just said “loading” forever).  There are a number of posts on their forum from users suggesting that the project and site have been abandoned by the original creators.

It’s a shame because this app has great potential.  Thinkature owners: if you are reading this and don’t have time to pursue the project, do the world a favor and release it as open source code!  Please let the world take the next step with this excellent project you’ve started.

2. Twiddla.com

Of all the sites I’ve tested so far, this one seems to have the most potential.  It has a ton of neat features, is easy to use, and even has support for some math formulas that would make it ideal for online tutoring.

While it appears to still be under active development (unlike Thinkature) I unfortunately still ran into some reliability issues.  I consistently got a message in the chat window about the network connection being broken and the voice chat feature didn’t appear to work at all.  While you could potentially get around the voice chat problem with a separate Skype connection or regular phone call, it further complicates the process and makes it less likely to work for a non-tech savvy user.

I do like how they made it drop dead simple to start a new online session (no account required) and of course it’s free.  It really is amazing that this product is released for free at all, given that it surely required thousands of man hours to produce.  I can also greatly sympathize with the issues I saw, since they are among the most difficult problems in computer science to solve (synchronization, latency, etc).  Twiddla is truely a grand effort that is dangerously close to becoming the perfect solution.  If the reliability can be improved I could see this becoming a staple of online tutoring.

3. Google Docs

Google’s growing online office suite offers some real time collaboration tools which may work.  Their Excel knockoff “Spreadsheets” offers the most promising solution for math or business type tutoring.

As you can see, two (or more) people can edit a spreadsheet at the same time.  Each user has a different color cell border so you can see what the other person is doing.  While one person is editing a particular cell, it is greyed out so you don’t both try to edit it at the same time.  This article has a great overview of the Google Docs online collaboration tools.

Their documents tool (similar to Microsoft Word) also has some potential for online tutoring of writing, essays, etc.  Unfortunately it’s not very easy to see exactly what the other person is editing in real time, which limits it’s usefulness.

Conclusion

Overall I haven’t found the perfect tool (yet) for online tutoring.  Cisco has a commercial app called WebEx which I’d like to review but their demo is down.  Tutor.com also apears to use their own desktop-based proprietary software, but I don’t have any way to test it out or use it.  As stated before, I don’t think a desktop solution is the way to go.

Currently, the technology available still feels like its getting in the way more than it is facilitating the process of online tutoring.

What other online collaboration tools did I miss?  Would you like to see more online tutoring offered in the future?  Let me know in the comments below.

There are 3 primary types of learners.  Do you know which one you are?

It’s worth identifying your own type and also the type of anyone you are trying to teach.  For example, you may make little progress with an auditory learner by forcing them to write words over and over again, while quizzing them out loud is a breeze.

This also helps explain why one particular learning technique can be very effective for one student and not another.  We all learn differently.

Types of Learners:

VISUAL LEARNERS

• Visual learners learn primarily through the written word and sight.
• They learn well on their own.
• They tend to be readers who diligently take down every word.
• Provide them with written materials and exercises
• Have them write key words and take notes while reading
• Use visuals or graphics
• They will do best reviewing topics in a text book or reviewing their own written notes

AUDITORY LEARNERS

• Auditory learners learn primarily through listening and talking with others.
• They learn well in groups.
• They focus their ears and attention on your words, listening carefully to everything you say.
• They like to talk rather than write and relish the opportunity to discuss what they’ve heard.
• They will do best reviewing topics in a group by discussing them and quizzing each other out loud.

KINESTHETIC LEARNERS

• Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing and moving their body.
• This group learns best when they can physically practice what they’re learning.
• They want to have their hands on the keyboard, the hammer, or the test tube because they think in terms of physical action.
• Encourage underlining and highlighting.
• Provide real-life simulations and examples
• Offer hands-on activities 

To conclude, here is a first hand story from Kathryn Lay on the power of understanding “learning types”…

Michelle stared at her math homework with tears in her eyes. “I just can’t memorize this stuff,” she said.

It irritated me and frustrated her. I couldn’t understand why memorizing the multiplication tables was so hard. It wasn’t until I understood that my daughter is a kinesthetic, or hands-on, learner that I realized it really was difficult, and the difficulty wasn’t from lack of trying.

It may not be what your child is learning that is frustrating her, but how she is learning–using visual, auditory, or kinesthetic strengths.

According to Cheri Fuller, author of Unlocking Your Child’s Learning Potential, “Learning style entails how a person best takes in, understands, and remembers information.” She concludes that, “while most of us learn in all three ways…in most children, one sense is usually more finely tuned and influential for learning than the others.”

Is it the math, or the manner of learning the math that causes your child problems? The science, or the approach to science? Do you know your child’s learning style? How could you use this knowledge to help in the learning process, both at home and at school?

Once you find your child’s learning style, you can also find ways to help difficult subjects become easier.

Quizlet is a very cool little website that allows you to quickly create flashcards and quiz yourself on them.

You can also test yourself in other ways such as true/false, multiple choice, matching, and written answers. 

What makes it particularly useful also is that there are already over 300,000 “sets” of flashcards made for common test questions.  For example, here is one on the state capitals.

The site was created by a 15 year old, Andrew Sutherland.  Congrats Andrew you are going places!

Take a look at the video demo here or sign up for free.

A must-see for every parent and teacher. Education guru Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. Sir Ken Robinson is author of “Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative,” and a leading expert on innovation in education and business. 

Do schools today kill creativity? (Ken Robinson, TEDTalks)

By Carol S. Dweck - reprinted from Scientific American.

Hint: Don’t tell your kids that they are. More than three decades of research shows that a focus on effort—not on intelligence or ability—is key to success in school and in life.

A brilliant student, Jonathan sailed through grade school. He completed his assignments easily and routinely earned As. Jonathan puzzled over why some of his classmates struggled, and his parents told him he had a special gift. In the seventh grade, however, Jonathan suddenly lost interest in school, refusing to do homework or study for tests. As a consequence, his grades plummeted. His parents tried to boost their son’s confidence by assuring him that he was very smart. But their attempts failed to motivate Jonathan (who is a composite drawn from several children). Schoolwork, their son maintained, was boring and pointless.

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One of the absolute best resources on the internet that not very many people know about is the MIT OpenCourseWare project.

The OCW is an online repository of all courses offered at MIT in both their graduate and undergraduate departments.

It doesn’t allow you to get an MIT degree, but you can work through material at you own pace. This is the exact same material that many people pay over $120,000 to learn….for FREE to everyone in the world.

Here are some of the subjects you get learn:

* Aeronautics and Astronautics
* Anthropology
* Architecture
* Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation
* Biological Engineering
* Biology
* Brain and Cognitive Sciences
* Chemical Engineering
* Chemistry
* Civil and Environmental Engineering
* Comparative Media Studies
* Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
* Economics
* Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
* Engineering Systems Division
* Experimental Study Group
* Foreign Languages and Literatures
* Health Sciences and Technology
* History
* Linguistics and Philosophy
* Literature
* Materials Science and Engineering
* Mathematics
* Mechanical Engineering
* Media Arts and Sciences
* Music and Theater Arts
* Nuclear Science and Engineering
* Physics
* Political Science
* Science, Technology, and Society
* Sloan School of Management
* Special Programs
* Urban Studies and Planning
* Women’s and Gender Studies
* Writing and Humanistic Studies

The content is translated into many different languages and is accessed by people in every country in the world, with over 1 million visitors to the site per month.

Check it out. I suggest subscribing to their RSS feed or newsletter so that you can see new courses as they come out. Instead of watching TV, take an hour or half hour and watch a lecture each night. It just might change your life…