The Best Free Training

Topic: Variety of educational topics (reading, math, and more) for kindergarten through high school
Format: Website with highly-graphical and interactive quizzes, games, puzzles, and blogs (parent & teacher resources included)
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

According to the website: “FunBrain.com has been featured in the… Christian Science Monitor, Entertainment Weekly, Yahoo! Internet Life, Chicago Tribune” and it’s won too many awards to list here. And for good reason! This site is filled with all sorts of engaging activities that will help keep your kids (or your students) of all ages involved in learning the basics. And better yet, it has resources to help teachers and parents to make the most of the huge collection of stuff that’s available!

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Topic: How identity theft occurs and how to prevent it
Format: Self-paced, interactive, slide-based tutorial including text explanations, graphics, animations, practice exercises, and downloadable PDF reference checklists (free registration required)
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

From the website: “The Identity Theft program only takes around an hour to complete and [will enable you] to: understand how you are targeted, learn how to protect your identity, learn how to protect your company’s identity, recognise the signs that fraud is taking place.” This is a nice, tight overview of the issues and recommended precautions associated with identity theft.

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Topic: self help and meditation (transforming your consciousness, improving your life)
Format: Website with online videos, audios and PDF transcripts, as well as a workbook, discussion group and other resources
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

If you’ve ever sat quiet and still, lost in a sunset or listening to the sounds of birds chattering or waves lapping the shoreline, or simply stared into space and discovered a few minutes of tranquility in what seemed like a timeless and formless place, then you’ve probably experienced being “truly present.” If you’d like to experience more of such moments and extend the sense of peace they bring into the rest of your life, then you may be ready to be “awakened.”

In this amazing collection of on-demand webcasts, “Oprah and best-selling author Eckhart Tolle lead 10 online classes and take you through A New Earth chapter by chapter. Watch the webcasts on Oprah.com or download them from iTunes and take them with you. Plus, get transcripts, listen to audio meditations and the theme song for the A New Earth Web classes.”   (Continued in Comment.)

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Topic: Many advanced academic topics in the sciences, technology, humanities, economics, and more
Format: Podcasts and MP3s and some videos, as well as RSS feeds of class lectures
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

Did you ever wish you could attend a great academic institution like UC Berkeley without jumping through all the logistical hoops of registration, commuting, and so on? Well, you can by attending class virtually via Podcast and following along on your own schedule. And it’s all free! UC Berkeley has made a wide range of academic courses available via Podcast so you can take full, virtual, academic courses from their top-knotch professors!

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Topic: Nutrition, physical fitness, and wellness including coaching and support groups
Format: website with videos, articles, slide shows, and other training, coaching, and progress tracking tools [free registration required]
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

This is a comprehensive collection of free tools and resources that will help you achieve your diet, exercise, and general wellness goals. From the website: “At SparkPeople, our mission is to SPARK millions of PEOPLE to reach their goals and lead healthier lives. We offer nutrition, health, and fitness tools, support, and resources that are 100% free, while other sites like Weight Watchers and eDiets.com charge their members for similar services.”

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Topic: Basic adult literacy skills, including reading and writing in English, as well as math fundamentals (tools for tutors included)
Format: Brief, self-paced text materials, illustrated with clean graphics and animations; worksheets, interactive quizzes, games, and other online resources
Reviewer/email: Mike G – greers_pm@yahoo.com

This is another well-designed and fun training resource from BBC! From the website: “Skillswise is the BBC website for adults who want to improve their basic skills in reading, writing and maths. Skillswise aims to become a thriving web community of learners and tutors.” If you need basic adult literacy and math skills, or you are trying to train someone to develop these skills, this website is for you!

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* The bad news: Political spin. Distortions. Half-truths. Outright lies. This is what’s passing for political news and commentary these days, while emotionally-charged ads twist the facts and tug at our heartstrings.
* The good news: Several highly respected web sites make it easy to find the truth behind the noise.
* The question: Are you willing to spend a little extra time to actively connect with the facts, instead of letting the slime of these distortions wash over you?

C’mon people! Dig a little deeper! Educate yourself!  Here’s an introduction to my three favorite fact-checking resources.

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