Computer911-9.12.09: “Back2School”

 

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The buses are on the road, the classrooms are full, and the dreaded homework is flowing like salmon sparrows of Capistrano.  From K through College, we round up the best online resources to push students to the head of the class in episode 25 of Computer 911 with PC Medic: Back2School.

Today’s Episode Brought to by CoolerLight.com

In The News

• Steve Jobs Takes Stage for Apple with iTunes, and iPod upgrades

• The Beatles Go Digital

• Microsoft will NOT Sell ZuneHD Outside US

• Facebook Gets Back to Basics with Lite Version (see it in action)

• Pigeon PWNS DSL

FEATURE: Back2School

Parents / Teachers

• Moms Homeroom – Tips, tools, and resources for mom’s to share ideas with other mom’s to help their children in their studies.

• School Express.com – Resources for not only teachers, but parents as well.

• Star Fall.com – Geared towards elementary school students.

• School.DiscoveryEducation.com – Lesson plan library, puzzle maker, and fun educational resources for students

Students

• Britannica.com – The Encyclopedia you grew up with on the interwebs.

• Kids Know It.com – Study by subject for your younger students. Making learning fun and FREE!

• Calculation Nation – For the math nerd in all of us…and yes, nerds are cool.

• Secret Builders.com – Developed by K-12 Teachers.  Features internet saftey, and allows kids to build their own clubhouse, and defend and take over territory through educational games.

• High School Ace.com – High School Ace is like a homepage for High School Academics.  Bringing together subject guides, reference sites, and daily news from around the world, it makes studies much easier.

• Spark Notes.com – Remember Cliff Notes?  Well Spark Notes brings all the joy of reading a book without reading it to the web, and for free!  It features most popular academic literature, as well as notes on a variety of subjects from Computer Science to Philosophy.

• When in doubt…Google it!

Totally Free Download: Frets on Fire

Need a break from studing? Jealous of your friends playing Beatles Rock Band when you got no chedda? (that’s money by the way).  Then check out Frets on Fire, the open source Guitar Hero, and you too can shread the just like Great Lakes Radio News Director, Walt Lindala:

Frets on Fire includes a built-in song editor that allows editing and creation of songs. This allows users to customize their own tracks. The Frets on Fire Wiki has an extensive resource of custom song frets. Frets on Fire also allows users to import songs from other guitar games. These include Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s. The game also features a tutorial, which lets users unfamiliar with the gameplay get accustomed to the game.

Tags: Apple, DSL, education, facebook, iTunes, Microsoft, Open Source, Radio Show, school, Zune