About Online School

It hardly matters if you’re in an online school or traditional college, good research tools are a valuable part of online school survival.

We don’t all have money for an Ebscohost subscription or the time to figure out how to use it, but there are some options that are just as good, not as costly, and easier to use for the self-reliant online school student. Here are three of the best online school tools:

1. Google Translator: For those online school students taking language classes with an online school, Google Translate is a dream destination for free translations. Google Translate is quick to research with and easy to use. Just place a block of text into the translation box, pick combinations of languages to translate, and Google Translate supplies the online school student with a full and somewhat accurate translation. Google Translate can translate popular languages like English, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, and Korean for an online school student. It even gives you the translated text in the language, not as a transliteration. (You can also use it to translate sources into your language if you’re researching.)
2. Google Book Search: Google Book Search is the online school student’s secret weapon against colleges and professors that force purchasing books. Google Book Search’s virtual library grows at a rate rivaling Wikipedia, and like Wikipedia, anyone with a scanner can donate a book. College students are among the primary contributors, but be forewarned that copyrighted books on Google Book Search are generally incomplete. (Copyright prevents Google from listing copyrighted works in their entirety, and the book must instead be offered as a preview.) In previews, anywhere from 20-100 pages can be missing, which can be a critical amount when you need to read a small novel. Still, Google Books is very useful for literature majors who will need to read classics and Shakespearian work.
3. Wikipedia: This one is a no-brainer. Wikipedia provides some of the best, in-depth, technical information you can find on almost any topic. Wikipedia is the best free resource for information on the web because traditional college professors and online school professors alike even post information here; but that also means one has to be careful when using Wikipedia as a source of research. It’s not too hard to discern when the brunt of ones research has been gathered from Wikipedia, and professors will not only be quick to tell an online school student, but they’ll be even quicker to slap a project/essay with a plagiarism accusation. Many professors will not accept citations made from Wikipedia because it’s seen as being an “easy way out.” All the same, if an online school student is seeking the most free, fastest, comprehensive, accurate, and all-around best information out there, a visit to Wikipedia is definitely in order.

What other tools really helped you succeed in your online studies? Share a link in the comments and mention what it was useful for!