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Best And Worst Resources For Students
Part 3b: Free Online Resources

The internet is teeming with free resources for students. The last post, part 3a, covered the very best of these. Khan academy covers a broad range of topics with consistently high-quality videos and practice material. Wolfram Alpha is an excellent, but potentially abusable freemium answer generator. Thousands of teachers have excellent web sites for students. The best teachers' sites are the best resources the internet has to offer.

This post covers second- and third-tier online resources. If used correctly, Youtube and free answers sites can quickly get you the help you need. Wikipedia won't be very helpful, but perhaps not for the reason you suspect. Freemium answers sites are just bad.

Good: Youtube

The best instructional videos on Youtube are among the best you'll find online. Unfortunately it can be very difficult to find a concise, high-quality video at the appropriate level for you. Some of the most popular videos contain teaching errors, sot going by views or likes won't get you very far. Much of the best instruction comes in an ugly package with unedited video and poor sound quality.
To maximize your chances of finding a good video, put a lot of detail into your search query. Include your class name, grade level and the topic you need help with (for example, “10th grade honors biology prokaryotes and eukaryotes”). If you find a great video, subscribe to the channel it comes from so you can return if you need help with another topic.

Mostly Good: Free Answers Sites

Suppose you have a specific question. You want to clear up a spelling or grammar issue, understand the difference between two concepts or find out how do tackle a particularly difficult word problem. Odds are, someone has already submitted this question, or something very similar, to a free answers site like Yahoo! Answers, Socratic.org or Quora. In fact, an excellent answer has probably been posted and reviewed on the site too!
To quickly find the answer you need, do a web search with your entire question (for example, “If the radius of a cylinder is tripled what effect does this have on the cylinder's volume?”). Scroll down the search results until you find a link with your question posted on a popular free answers site (Yahoo! Answers, Socratic.org and Quora are great options). Click the link and look for an answer with plenty of upvotes and few downvotes. These are usually found near the top of the page.
NOTE: These sites, like Wolfram Alpha, can be abused. Do not search for an answer until you've attempted the problem on your own. Jumping straight to the answer and copying it instead of working it out yourself will cause serious problems on quizzes and tests.

Worst: Freemium Answers Sites
Searching for answers will occasionally lead to a freemium site like Chegg. You'll find a question very much like yours and an indicator that it's been answered. You may see upvotes as well. When you try to view the solution, the part you need will be blurred, redacted or otherwise obscured. You'll be prompted to sign up and give your credit card information.
Don't bother with an answers site that hides answers behind paywalls. If you have any difficulty accessing answers just leave the site and look for another.

Mostly Bad: Wikipedia
Wikipedia is an easily-navigated site with thousands of expert contributors, plenty of helpful images and, best of all, excellent footnotes leading to primary sources. Unfortunately it's not very useful for students.
Wikipedia isn't a primary source, making it a poor place to do research for papers and projects. Just including a Wikipedia page in your works cited section will probably result in a red mark and points deducted. Math and science pages are impressively accurate and up-to-date but written at such a high level that even college students won't be able to understand them. Good luck finding pages written for middle school and high school students!

This concludes the third part of the Best And Worst Resources For Students series of posts. Check back soon for the next part, Paid Local Resources.

Homework in a snap | Socratic Take a photo of your homework question and get answers, math solvers, explanations, and videos. Works for Math, Science, History, English, and more.

Best And Worst Resources For Students
Part 3a: Free Online Resources

The most successful students seek help from many sources. Instead of struggling alone or giving up, they reach out and find the resources they need.
There is certainly no shortage of free online resources for students. The answers are almost always out there, though they may be hard to find. This post is about free online resources- which to avoid, which to try and how to get the most out of them. Teachers' sites, Khan Academy and Wolfram Alpha are among the best. Youtube and free answers sites are good too. Wikipedia is among the worst, and freemium answers sites are a waste of your time.

Best: Teachers' sites
More and more teachers are taking their classes online. They post syllabi, assignments, notes, study guides and even video lectures. The quality of material posted generally ranges from good to excellent.
To find a site that closely mirrors your course, do a web search with your grade level, class title and a title like Mr or Mrs (I searched for “10th Grade Algebra 2 Mr”). Ignore the first few pages of results and skip to page 5 or so. Look for a link to a teacher's site for your specific course. Check to make sure there's plenty of content on the page, especially notes and homework assignments. Once you find an appropriate page be sure to bookmark it.
NOTE: Some teachers' sites can only be accessed by students at a specific school. You'll know these by the username and password prompt that shows up when you click the link. If you get such a prompt, go back to the web search and try another site.

Great: Khan Academy
https://www.khanacademy.org
Khan Academy is a great free resource with “practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom.” The instructional videos are clear, concise and and among the best the internet has to offer. Its free standardized test preparation tools are on par with expensive online and in-person test prep. Google search makes the site a breeze to navigate and the dashboard is serviceable.
To find a lesson, do a web search including Khan Academy and the topic you need help with (I searched for “Khan Academy Redox Reactions”). To find practice problems, include the word “practice” in quotations as well (I searched for “Khan Academy Newton's Second Law “practice” ”).

Mostly Great: Wolfram Alpha
Wolfram Alpha is a stupendously powerful freemium answer generator. Simply go to https://www.wolframalpha.com and entering a query. Any equation, inequality, word problem or conceptual question will do. You can also enter photos, data and files.
Wolfram Alpha will do its best to answer your question and provide additional information in tables, graphs and related equations. It's best to ignore the “Step-by-step solution” and “Try again with Pro computation time” buttons. These features are only available to paying members. The wealth and quality of free information provided makes this resource one of the best.
NOTE: Too many students abuse Wolfram Alpha, using it to solve their homework problems without attempting them first. These lazy students face a rude awakening on tests and quizzes, sometimes earning no points at all. Use Alpha to help with your homework, not to do it for you.

Best And Worst Resources For Students
Part 2: Free Local Resources

The Greater Tampa Bay Area is brimming with resources for students in need. This post is about free local resources, people and places that students can visit in person for help with a class, a subject, preparing for a test or continuing education. First, the best and most obvious free local resource:

Best: Your Teacher
To excel in a class, first start with perfect attendance. Do what you can to minimize absences.
Take good notes. Always write the date and copy what your teacher writes. Anything written on the board is fair game for a test.
Speak up in class. If you don't understand a concept, you're probably not alone. Asking questions will help your peers as well as yourself. Ask your teacher to slow down, move so you can see the board, and leave what's written long enough for you to write it down.
Contact your teacher using the preferred method, usually email. Most teachers will write an email address on the board during the first day of class and hand out a syllabus with the address as well.
See your teacher during office hours. Ask questions about the material. Discuss difficult homework questions. Talk about upcoming quizzes and tests.
NOTE: Many students are afraid to bother their teachers. Push past your fear and make your needs known. The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Worst: Boys and Girls Clubs
These clubs provide some excellent free services, but tutoring is not one of them. Expect large classes and little one-on-one time with the teacher. If your child needs help with a specific subject or homework assignment, they probably won't get the attention they need, certainly not from a qualified tutor.

Bad: Library Services
Libraries, like Boys and Girls Clubs, are great at a lot of things, just not tutoring. Enrolling your child in an after school science program probably won't bring up his or her science grades. These programs just aren't designed to address gaps in students' knowledge.

Okay: Your Peers
If you miss class, borrow a peer's notebook and record the notes you missed. If you don't understand the material, you should probably seek a more qualified source. Study groups are good for motivation and building friendship. They're a good place to help your friends and solidify what you already know. When it comes to help understanding the material, you should look elsewhere. A qualified tutor will have mastered the material and multiple ways to teach it. The person that sits next to you will not.

Bad: Student Tutoring
Most colleges offer free low-quality tutoring. You may be able to find a drop-in tutoring session or set up a regular appointment, but you certainly won't be matched with a well-qualified tutor. Student tutors are under qualified, inexperienced, underpaid and unreliable. Your tutor won't have a bachelor's degree or the breadth of knowledge that goes with it. Your college algebra tutor may have earned a B in college algebra and never taken another math course. You can do better!

Unpredictable: Volunteer Tutors
You may be surprised at the number of volunteer tutors around you or the variety of places they can be found. Public school teachers hold free GED prep classes in the evening. Retired professors offer drop-in tutoring at their church. Computer scientists offer computer programming lectures that are available to the public. Artists teach their trade at community art centers.
To gauge the quality of a volunteer tutoring service, ask about the tutor's qualifications and the typical attendance. Seek well-qualified tutors and low attendance. Remember: if you're one of two students in attendance, you'll only get direct help half the time.

Best And Worst Resources For Students
Part 1: Introduction

Students today have more resources available than ever before. Struggling students in the Greater Tampa Bay Area can find hundreds of private tutors and tutoring agencies. Test preppers can find thousands of books, websites and videos to help prepare for high-stakes tests like the SAT. Children and adults alike can find a surprising amount of free services in the area.

Every student is different, so there's no one-size-fits-all solution that will work for everyone. Fortunately, today's options are diverse enough to meet almost every student's needs.

This is the first in a series of posts on the best and worst resources for students. Help is readily available, though it may be hard to gauge its quality.

One piece of advice will come up over and over in this series: GET HELP FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES. Work with a professional tutor. See your teacher during office hours. Watch high-quality tutorial videos on youtube. Buy test preparation books and laminated study guides. Ask your peers what worked for them. Keep trying new things until you find a few that work for you. The most successful students find and use multiple sources for extra help.

The Best And Worst Resources For Students is a big topic, far too big for one post. Check back soon for Part 2: Free Local Resources.

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