Each option has its own advantages and disadvantages. The Kindle is light, has a long battery life and doesn’t charge extra for 3G wireless connectivity, but it’s only in black and white, is very limited in what it can do, and recent trials by students using it as a study tool proved disappointing. Netbooks are in color, have larger screens, storage and functionality, but they’re bulkier and can be more expensive. The iPad splits the difference, featuring the Kindle’s smaller size but with a color screen and expanded functionality closer to netbooks. However, the fully-loaded iPad is the most expensive of the three technologies, and it still lacks the ability to multitask (details on this limitation won’t be known until the iPad’s release, but imagine not being able to listen to music or read an e-book while surfing the web).

For all the advancements in technology, however, good old-fashioned books still have the upper hand in widespread acceptance, thanks to: 1) tradition, 2) lack of a learning curve, 3) ease of note taking, and 4) the tactile nature of flipping through a book. For many people, reading an e-book on a digital display is no replacement for an actual printed text, but even for those who enjoy using readers like the Kindle, the experience of trying to study — with the requisite note taking — is markedly different. The Kindle enjoys wide recreational use, but it has a large mountain to climb to become widely accepted as a study tool that could replace textbooks.

The iPad might face similar hurdles. Thanks to its multiple functionality (not to be confused with multitasking), it will no doubt be popular as an entertainment device for surfing the web, playing games and listening to music, but from an educational standpoint, these functions might serve to distract students from their scholastic pursuits. Furthermore, while some might view the iPad’s touch screen as an advantage, when trying to take notes, it might prove unwieldy.

Indeed, accurate, affordable pen-based handwriting recognition capability might be the major hurdle for many students unwilling to convert to any form of book replacement technology. Neither the Kindle nor the iPad features such functionality, and because of the cost, it’s rare in the budget-conscious netbooks.

Time will tell, but despite their bulk and cost, hardcopy textbooks appear here to stay. For now.

African-American History Primary Sources
A listing of primary sources — narratives, newspapers, writings, interviews and various archives — for research on African-American history.

The African-American Mosaic
A Library of Congress collection for the study of African-American culture and history.

African American Registry
An extensive collection of biographies and articles on significant people and events in African-American history.

African American World Timeline
An comprehensive PBS timeline of African-American history and culture, with a wealth of multimedia links.

African Americans and American Politics
An illustrated history of the African-American presence in politics, from the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

African Americans and the White House
A timeline tracing the little-known history of African-American representation in the White House.

The African Presence in the Americas: 1492-1992
A basic history of African Americans, from the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Biography.com: Black History
Photos, videos, biographies of noted African Americans, from the Biography Channel.

Black History Month: Infoplease
A series of informative articles in celebration of Black History Month.

The Black Inventor Online Museum
Informative profiles of African Americans who invented a wide range of useful products and processes.

Encyclopedia Britannica Guide to Black History
A gathering of Encyclopedia Britannica artlcles on African-American topics in one convenient location.

Free At Last: The US Civil Rights Movement
A free 70-page e-book about the Civil Rights Movement, from the US Department of State.

History.com: Black History
The History Channel’s collection of timelines, maps, videos and articles celebrating African-American history.

In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience
A colorful exhibit tracing 13 defining migrations that transformed the African-American experience.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The NAACP’s site presents a timeline of notable moments in African-American history since the foundation of the NAACP in 1909, with video introductions from stars like Laurence Fishburne and Dennis Haysbert.

National Parks and Historic Sites Preserving African-American History
The National Park Service’s overview of sites around the country devoted to historic moments in African Americans’ past.

Separate But Not Equal: Brown v. the Board of Education
A section of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s site focusing on the fight against segregation, with photos and artifacts.

Smithsonian.com: Black History Heritage Month
The Smithsonian Magazine’s celebration of Black History Month, including the fascinating little-known story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor tobacco farmer whose unique gift would help lead to medical advances throughout the 20th century and beyond.

Stories of Freedom and Justice
A section of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s site celebrating the 50th anniversary of the student sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina that helped spark the Civil Rights movement. Includes pictures, video and artifacts.

Stories to Tell
Illustrated articles tracing historic outdoor experiences of African Americans, told through the National Park Service.

Massage (Mechano-Therapy)

Drafting

Coal Mining

Locksmithing

Game Warden

Taxidermy

Hypnosis

Physical Therapy

Parenthood

Physcultopathy (Health and Fitness)

Art

Criminal Justice

Repair

Law

Business

Medicine

Sales

Electronics

Real Estate

Insurance

Chemistry

Administrative

Computer Programming

1. How do you feel about Wednesday? [University of Chicago]

2. You have just completed your 300-page autobiography. Please submit page 217. [University of Pennsylvania]

3. How did you get caught? (Or not caught, as the case may be.) [University of Chicago]

4. Write a haiku, limerick, or short poem that best represents you. [New York University]

5. Have you ever walked through the aisles of a warehouse store like Costco or Sam’s Club and wondered who would buy a jar of mustard a foot and a half tall? We’ve bought it, but it didn’t stop us from wondering about other things, like absurd eating contests, impulse buys, excess, unimagined uses for mustard, storage, preservatives, notions of bigness…and dozens of other ideas both silly and serious. Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard. [University of Chicago]

6. Are we alone? [Tufts University]

7. Modern improvisational comedy had its start with The Compass Players, a group of University of Chicago students, who later formed the Second City comedy troupe. Here is a chance to play along. Improvise a story, essay, or script that meets all of the following requirements:

• It must include the line “And yes I said yes I will Yes” (Ulysses, by James Joyce).
• Its characters may not have superpowers.
• Your work has to mention the University of Chicago, but please, no accounts of a high school student applying to the University — this is fiction, not autobiography.
• Your work must include at least four of the following elements: a paper airplane, a transformation, a shoe, the invisible hand, two doors, pointillism, a fanciful explanation of the Pythagorean Theorem, a ventriloquist or ventriloquism, the Periodic Table of the Elements, the concept of jeong, number two pencils.

[University of Chicago]

8. If any of these three inanimate objects could talk, how would your room, computer or car describe you? [Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley]

9. Can a toad hear? Prove it. [Bennington College]

10. The late William Burroughs once wrote that “language is a virus from outer space.” We at the University of Chicago think he¹s right, of course, and this leaves us wondering what else came here with it. Could this finally explain such improbable features of modern life as the Federal Tax Code, non-dairy creamer, Dennis Rodman, and the art of mime? Name something that you assert cannot have originated any other way. Offer a thorough defense of your hypothesis for extraterrestrial origins, including alternate explanations and reasons for eliminating them from consideration. [University of Chicago]

11. If you were reduced to living on a flat plane, what would be your greatest problems? Opportunities? [Hamilton College]

12. “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.” - Miles Davis [University of Chicago]

13. Having observed the recent success of television shows about young people, the University of Chicago has decided to pitch a pilot proposal to the networks. . . . In the tradition of the University of Chicago school of improvisation and its offshoot, the Second City comedy troupe, help us out by creating a story for your proposal. Remember that this is Chicago, so it is better to err on the side of intellectual pretension than on the side of pure silliness. Please bear in mind that Felicity has already been done. The setting is near a grand college campus — green, leafy and gothic — in a major Midwestern city. Incorporate into your story:

a) A genre from the following:

• A German opera
• A soap opera
• The Real World
• “Bill Nye the Science Guy”
• . . . . OK . . . Friends

b) A character from the following:

• Godot
• Enrico Fermi’s personal trainer
• A starving investment banker
• An evil clown

c) A prominent prop from the following:

• Cliff Notes for Finnegans Wake
• van Gogh’s ear
• A proton accelerator
• Muddy Waters’ guitar

[University of Chicago]

14. In the year 2050, a movie is being made of your life. Please tell us the name of your movie and briefly summarize the story line. [New York University]

15. Elvis is alive! OK, maybe not, but here in the Office of College Admissions we are persuaded that current Elvis sightings in highway rest areas, grocery stores and Laundromats are part of a wider conspiracy involving five of the following: the metric system, the Mall of America, the crash of the Hindenburg, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, lint, J.D. Salinger and wax fruit. Help us get to the bottom of this evil plot by constructing your own theory of how and why five of these items and events are related. Your narrative may take any form you like, but try to keep your theory to under two pages. [University of Chicago]

16. Write a short story using one of the following titles:

• Decorate a virtual gingerbread man
• Create a virtual holiday sweater
• Build a (melting) virtual snowman
• Decorate a virtual Christmas tree (or via download)
• Give a virtual gift basket
• Enjoy virtual snow
• Go to virtual church
• Light a virtual menorah
• Sing Christmas carols (or here)
• Create virtual snow flakes
• Talk to a virtual Santa
• Make your move under virtual mistletoe

And, of course, sit in front of a virtual fireplace:

Landmarks

• Eiffel Tower (Paris, France)
• Grand Canal (Venice, Italy)
• Statue of Liberty (New York City, New York, USA)

Animal Life

• Boston Aquarium (Boston, Massachusetts, USA)
• Buenaventura Reserve (Piñas, Ecuador)
• Honeybee hive (Vcelovina honey wine, Slovakia)
• Kruger National Park (South Africa)
• National Zoo (Washington, DC, USA)
• Sea World Shamu Cam (San Diego, California, USA)

Museums

• AirVenture Museum (Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA)
• Dinosaur in Their Time exhibit, Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)
• Foucault pendulum, University of Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany)
• National Air and Space Museum (Washington, DC, USA)
• National Corvette Museum (Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA)

Nature

• Arctic and Antarctic web cams (Alaska, USA; Norway; Antarctica)
• Hawaiian Volcanic Observatory (Hawaii, USA)
• Hurricane cam (travels to weather events)
• Niagara Falls (New York, USA; Ontario, Canada)
• Old Faithful geyser, Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, USA)
• Sedona, Arizona (Sedona, Arizona, USA)

Occupations

• Airport (Bornholm, Denmark)
• Dairy farming, Utrecht University (Utrecht, Netherlands)
• Dentistry (New York City, New York, USA)
• Distillery (Frankfort, Kentucky, USA)
• Jewelry repair (Appleton, Wisconsin, USA)
• Structural engineering, University of Texas (Austin, Texas, USA)
• Seismology, Nevada Seismological Lab (Reno, Nevada, USA)

Space

• Earth satellite map
• Globe cam
• The Moon

Gift Ideas for Students Taking Online Classes

Online education is designed to be more convenient than in-person classes, but it has its share of hassles that can be eased with a healthy dose of technology. And I think we all agree that the best type of technology is free technology! So consider giving these cutting-edge gadgets to that special online student in your life; they might prove to be a real life saver (as opposed to a light saber, which would be a pretty cool gadget too).

Livescribe Pulse Smartpen

Even learning online, some people prefer hand writing notes to typing. This nifty pen allows you to do that and still end up with your notes digitized on your computer. It has an infrared camera that records everything you write on the specially designed paper to later upload to your computer. It can also record audio, so you can go back and listen to what your teacher was saying as you took the notes!

SolidTek ACECAD DigiMemo Digital Notepad

A cheaper alternative to the Livescribe is the DigiMemo, which uses a pen-and-stylus combination rather than a “smartpen” and doesn’t require special paper to create a digital version of your notes.

Voltaic Generator Solar-Powered Laptop Bag

This laptop bag comes equipped with solar cells and a laptop-compatible battery pack that can fully charge in five hours, helping to ensure you never run out of power while studying on the run. It might also help with your tan.

Aerielle i2i Stream

The i2i Stream allows you to listen to an audio device wirelessly — and in HD quality — up to 30 feet away, meaning you can send audio (lectures, videos, etc.) from your computer to your headphones if you don’t want to disturb anyone during late-night study sessions, or you can send the audio to stereo speakers if you want everyone to hear your pain.

I-Tech Virtual Laser Keyboard

This amazing cell phone-sized gadget emits lasers that project a full-sized, fully functional keyboard (complete with “clicking” sounds!) on a flat surface, easing efforts to type in the dark or to use a finger-crunching PDA/smart phone. You can also use it when you do your Tron role playing.

Verizon MiFi Intelligent Mobile Hotspot

Learning on the run is a lot easier when you have the Internet, and the MiFi provides a 30-foot zone of connectivity for up to five WiFi-enabled devices — all in a gadget the size of eight stacked credit cards.

3M MPro Pocket Projector

Is that a projector in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? If you’re tired of staring at a small computer screen or an even smaller smart phone screen when you study, a pocket projector — small enough to fit in your pocket –  can project the screen on any flat surface up to 50 inches in size. Your eyes will thank you.

PlanOn Office in a Pocket

Is that an office in your pocket, or…OK, enough of that. If you ever have to work with hardcopy documents, this set could prove invaluable. It consists of a DocuPen — a full-page scanner that’s no bigger than a Sharpie — and a PrintStik, a full-page printer that’s only two inches wide. Both can work from either a laptop or a smart phone using Bluetooth technology, meaning you may never have to enter a Kinko’s again.

(Note: these offers aren’t tied to a particular brick-and-mortar school and thus are presumably open to online students, but you might want to read the fine print to make sure.)

1. Being tall: Tall Clubs International offers scholarships to students who are at least 21 years old and of above-average height: 5′10″ for women and 6′2″ for men.
2. Dressing in duct tape: Duck brand duct tape offers scholarships to a pair of high school students who attend prom in outfits made from duct tape.
3. Being a Trekkie: The Starfleet Academy (the official school of Starfleet, the International Star Trek Fan Association) offers scholarships to students who’ve been Starfleet members for at least a year. Plan ahead.
4. Sounding like a duck: The Chick and Sophie Major Memorial Duck Calling Contest in Stuttgart, Arkansas, awards scholarships to high school seniors who can do a mean duck call.
5. Being good at trivia: The Common Knowledge Scholarship Foundation awards scholarships based on the speed and accuracy with which you take online quizzes.
6. Not eating meat: The Vegetarian Resource Group offers a scholarship to high school seniors who have promoted vegetarianism in their communities.
7. Eating meat: The American National CattleWomen’s National Beef Ambassador Program awards scholarships to students who promote beef consumption. (Warning: winning may require you to become a part-time shill.)
8. Pretending to care about fire sprinklers: The American Fire Sprinkler Association offers scholarships to high school seniors for reading an essay on fire sprinkler safety and then taking an “open-book” quiz about what you’ve read. You even get a second chance if you answer incorrectly!
9. Being yourself: OP Loftbed offers scholarships to college students for answering four simple questions in an interesting, creative, entertaining way. They explicitly state that they don’t care about “your GPA, writing skill, involvement in community or service organizations, or other similar criteria.”
10. Making woolen outfits: The American Sheep Industry Association’s Make It With Wool contest offers scholarships to fashion design students for making garments made of at least 60% wool.
11. Bowling: Apparently, there is over $6 million worth of scholarship funds available for people who bowl! Time to brush up on my Wii Sports. Find out more at the United States Bowling Congress.
12. Drinking tea: The Tea Association of the USA’s Calm-a-Sutra contest offers a scholarship to students who make an online video endorsing tea.
13. Making a greeting card: The Gallery Collection awards a scholarship to students for simply designing a creative (and non-obscene) greeting card.