Date of Education

Finding cheap textbooks is a big challenge to many students. With the price of textbooks rising every year, it's rather difficult to find books that helps students save on their book allowances. What's worse is reselling your originally $100 worth textbook could only get you $10-$15 or even less. Call it your yearly devotion to college exploitation.

The fact still remains that textbooks prices rises around 6% every year which obviously is twice as high as the rate of the inflation recorded from the year 1998 to 2004.

But just like the rest of us, we do not need to spend much on textbooks. There are many resources out there that will help you get through college without shelling out too much from your pocket.

The recent move by the Federal Government in July 2010 has made it easier for school teachers and students to save money on textbooks. The students are no longer required to buy bundled books and should be given the option to buy them separately. Also, schools are now required by law to give students the information on the kind of textbooks required for the school year and give them time to shop for books before the classes start.

Some of the really useful places to visit on the web is Google Books. The site holds a large database of free books, scanned and stored in there. There are some books that will only allow you to view around 10-20 pages and purchase it as a reasonable price should you wish to get access to the entire book. Still other authors took copyright out of their works and include it to the open source textbooks list.

FlatWorld Knowledge, a company dedicated to offering open source textbooks online, has made it possible to drive the prices of some textbooks. Most of resources they have on the site are free and are accessible using a desktop or mobile computer such as tablets and smartphones. Others are downloadable, like eTextbooks, at a cheap price of $20 to $40 or request for the printed version for the same price.

CourseSmart.com is another site you can use for downloadable textbooks. You can access them using your computer tablets or smartphones and read them anywhere.

There are still many sites out there that supports open source textbooks and this post will be updated as we find interesting sources out there that are worth mentioning.

There will always come a time in your life, in your college life, when you wont have enough funds to buy yourself the textbook you need for class and you wished that there was someone who would lend it to you even for a price- luckily, in this day and age, textbook rentals are no new fact to many.

Renting out textbooks have grown increasingly popular, it started out from your group of friends until you discovered this book store that rents out textbooks for a minimal fee and it all spiraled up from there. It also goes without saying that people are being smart about their consumerism- it's very rare for a college student to hold his/her own textbook around campus- almost all of them are using rented out textbooks for the sake of surviving it.

And while you're trying to meet your ends meet, here are some ideas where you can possibly rent out a textbook you need for class:

Friends

You may not believe it but your friends (those who don't rent out books too); are the most viable source of textbook rentals. Most college students who have the luxury to buy new textbooks do rent them out to others as soon as they are done using it for the semester. And it's not even about the money anymore; sometimes they just really want to be of help to other students, the money is just a bonus.

Librarian/Professor

There are times when all your friends need the same textbook at the same time and you can't seem to find one person who's willing to rent out a book to you- worry not- because your college professor or school librarian may have the same exact book, perhaps a few years older, but nonetheless still very usable to lend to you. All you need is the courage to ask them if they can rent it out and your problems will be solved.

Websites

Now if you've really hit the end of the road in trying to secure yourself a copy of that textbook, perhaps it's time you start exploring the power of the Internet. There are so many websites right now dedicated to addressing the needs of students who need to rent out books for school. You may want to check out textbooks.com, chegg.com, ecampus.com, campusbooks.com and many more to help you find that book you need.

The limitations of renting out a book isn't as elusive as it was before, apparently, everyone's doing it now and the places where you can find them are infinite, all you need to do is to stock up on your patience because it might be as easy as you think it is. After all, if you're not buying a book, you might as well exert effort to find out that rents it out.

Schools that offer pharmacy technician training programs can help individuals to acquire the important skills and knowledge that they need to work in this field. If you want to become a competitive and proficient individual in this profession, your choice of training school is important. But with various schools available, how can you choose the right one that can really help you reach your dreams?

The level of comprehensiveness of the training program should be considered. You should look into the time of completion a program requires.

- 6 months. Some programs can help you earn the skills and knowledge that you need in as little as 6 month through a diploma.

- One year. If you want to earn a certificate, you need to enroll in a 1-year training program for pharmacy technician.

- Two years. An associate's degree can be completed for two years.

The program that you want will depend on how long you can finish it to help you get started working in this field. If you want a more in-depth training, however, you may choose the associate's degree.

It is also important to verify the programs the school is offering before making a decision. You can check out the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists to find schools that offer accredited pharmacy technician training programs. Online search engines are also useful in helping you find the right school.

If you are working full-time but still want to complete training for this occupation, you might want to consider online training options. They offer flexible schedules and allow you to learn at your own pace. Plus, they are less costly than campus-based training. However, this option still requires you to undergo clinical training to experience how it feels to be working in a live setting and apply what you have learned.

How to find a good pharmacy technician school?

Success rate. One of the best ways to find a good school is to check the success rate of the institution. How many were able to pass the certification exam to become a certified pharmacy technician? Were they able to find work right after graduation?

Admission requirements. Apart from that, you should also learn about the admission requirements and the tuition fees of the school you want to attend to for your training.

Essentially, you should look into the school's student support, education, training and internship opportunities. In this way, you can be sure that you will receive the benefits that you deserve. Because of the increasing demand for this profession, more and more training schools are being made available. It is up to you to choose wisely. You can study the tips mentioned above to help you find a school that can work for you and to your lifestyle.

"A high school student drops out of school every 26 minutes." This was the subject of a recent interview that I watch on TV. This statement was made by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. He was trying to raise public awareness concerning the high rate of students quitting school.

Listening to this interview brought back memories. I dropped out of high school not once, but twice. I remember the warnings from my teachers, and my parents. But I didn't listen then, and today's students are not listening either.

But with the state of today's economy, and so many people out of work, I was surprised to hear that there is such a high rate of students dropping out of school.

There are a lot of reasons why students quit before finishing high school. In my case I was going to school during the day. Then working a full-time factory job at night. I was working next to adults who were raising families. And I was basically making the same amount of money that they were. I had a good job, what do I need a diploma for? But I was bored with school and just wanted out. My wife's situation was different from mine. She got pregnant during high school and had to quit.

Seven years later, everything changed. One by one the factories closed and left town. The few that were left would only hire high school graduates. I was in trouble. By then I had a wife and four children, so I couldn't go back to school. So I decided to get my GED credentials instead.

I have heard that some people refuse to try the program for fear of failing the tests. I was afraid of what would happen if I didn't pass the tests. But looking back at it now, I really enjoyed the whole process. It was a big turn around for me. I wasn't interested in school when I quit. And when I was ready to finish my high school education, I was glad that 

the GED program was there.

If you have questions about the program, I'll try to provide some answers based on my experience. GED stands for: General Equivalency Degree (or diploma). The program was first established in 1942. Since then more than 17 million have earned a GED diploma. To be eligible to enroll in the program you have to be at least 16 yrs old, and not currently attending school.

The first thing that you need to do is find out the nearest location in your area where you can enroll in the program. The first place to call would be your local high school. Another place you could call is your nearest Workforce Development Center.

When you call the GED testing center ask for the next available date to start the program. Be sure to write the information down on paper. Write down the date, the time to be there, and the cost. When I called to enroll, the classes had already started. I didn't want to wait, so I went 15 miles to the next city and enrolled. That's what I had to do.

To obtain your General Equivalency Diploma you must pass a group of five subject tests. When passed, this certifies that the taker has high school-level academic skills. The five subjects are:

Language Arts, Reading

Language Arts, Writing

Mathematics

Science

Social Studies

The study book for the tests was the size of a Chicago phone book; but very self-explanatory. So much so that I didn't attend any of the classes to prepare to take the tests. I studied at home. Then I went and took each test, and passed each test. And I became the proud recipient of a General Equivalency Diploma.

My name is Michael W. Curley, and this is my story. If your ready to take the tests, I want to encourage you to do so. And I also want you to know that a GED is not a second class diploma. And here is why -- only 60% of graduating high school seniors would pass these five tests on their first attempt. That means that 40% of high school graduates could not pass the tests.

There are now waiting lines for pre-school. Yes, two years before my boy steps foot into his pre-school, he gets put on a waiting list. This must be the ivy league of pre-schools.

I had a fluke event during kindergarten reading hour (which morphed into nap time). My friend Davy was lying down next to me, on my left. I don't remember the story being read, but I distinctly remember what happened next.

The fluorescent light above us began to flicker. As I stared at the light in awe, the light popped and broke on one end. Something inside me forced me to push Davy--into a row of desks, bloodying his nose. The weight of the light dangling from one end proved too heavy, and the light crashed directly where we had been lying.

Davy was crying. He failed to see that I'd saved his frickin' life. His nose was bleeding, the teacher was screaming, little girls peed their pants. Nap time was over.

This was the beginning of my education. And make no mistake, I liked learning. Still, the very act of sitting in rows staring at a teacher never made sense. How is a test going to really going to prove you've learned something? Answer: It doesn't.

My son will enter this school system soon, a system that closely resembles the one I trudged through. Classrooms with ~30 kids regurgitating what the Education Department believes is important.

I have already drawn up my plan towards my sons' classes. I plan to know his teacher better than most. I want to know where he/she has been and where they're going. I want to know where they stand and how they grew up. I want to know if they've travelled. I want to hear them tell a story and tell a joke. I plan on holding them to a higher standard. When you give a kid responsibility and trust, they shine. So will my teacher.

Our educational system shows signs of being inflationary. The degrees needed when I went to university are only the beginning of what is needed today. Tuitions are astronomical and are not matched by quality. Textbooks are obsolete before they're finished printing. I must face the reality that this is not a world I've seen before. We must gaze at our environment with new lenses.

How can we (an obese nation, by the way) move our classrooms out of an actual 'room'? Biology in a nearby field, language at a public speech, math...well, anywhere but behind a chalk board.

Everyone learns in their own special way. I won't get into it, but I know that you can read 10 books on starfish, but until you see one in its own habitat, you don't know starfish. We live in a world where everything is digital. There will come a day when "I've actually seen a starfish!" means more than anything.

Drugs, racism, prejudice and peer pressure are some of the many reasons parents choose to home school a child but does this really give a child the best start in life? Will that boy or girl grow up equipped to deal with the daily challenges of modern day society? Although state funded schools may not seem to be the best start in life they teach children one thing that home schooling does not. Dealing with these issues is an important part of developing as a person and understanding ones own identity. However when it comes to education can we really rely on state funded establishments to do the best job of educating our children?

Lots of people have turned to "toping up" the education of children with home tutoring and private tuition to give children the best chance that they can get. Private education has always been a way to ensure the best start in life but with tuition fees reaching an all time high it really is not suited to everybody's pocket and as a result there has been a huge surge in the amount of parents investing in home tutoring to ensure that children can excel in areas that the usual classroom environment cannot cater to.

The Tutor doctor is one such group that is rapidly expanding as a result of people losing faith in state funded schools. It seems that in a world of raising unemployment amongst highly educated people the only way to survive is to be at the top of one's game and it all starts as a child. More and more graduates are finding that the chosen path is leading them to the same place that they may have found themselves if they just decided to find work at the age of 16 but without the lingering debt of student loans hanging over them.

It seems clear that the only way to make your efforts count is to be top of the tree all the way through. The United Kingdom has become a services based economy meaning the jobs are in offices and positions of qualification. It is already the cast that there is a qualification for almost every profession out there but the competition for the higher paying work is fierce and our overall standard of living is being diminished. My children will be made aware of the importance of high achievement because even after all of the time and effort invested, gone are the days of a secure future for anybody. We are most definitely back to the days of "survival of the fittest" only it is more about fitness of mind over body.

With the new focus being on amassing wealth, people have forgotten about the lack of educational resources in the country when in fact education is a key element of any society. Companies that have been supporting the cause to improve the lack of educational supplies are the only hope left for less fortunate children all around the country. Not only do some children have to go to a class without adequate equipment in terms of materials which elevate intellect, some children are deprived of important educational resources that are meant to elevate the physical as well as social aspects of every child.

The country is worried about the standard of education and wonder why a lot of children, who should be in school, are turning to crime to make money. With no resources, these children are left with almost no hope for their futures. While the more fortunate schools have started putting their syllabus on gadgets such as iPads, some children are still struggling to read and write.

Although most developed countries are known to have some of the best education in the world when compared to developing countries, the fact of the matter is that most public schools still lack basic educational resources. Teachers cannot do their jobs properly without the right resources and supplies. Basic tools for learning include books, pencils, desks and a good learning environment. Public schools that are already functioning are using old textbooks that are broken and hard to read, purely because of how old they are. New textbooks are rare in public schools that were built specifically for less fortunate areas because they are too expensive for the students and parents in the community.

Education is one of the most important aspects of the modern world and the more we invest in it, the more our children are going to be able to benefit from it. By investing in new equipment while also retaining a steady flow of basic equipment, we are essentially providing the raw materials which will be used to fuel the enthusiasm and the aptitude of our growing children. After all, we must remember that they are tomorrow's doctors and nurses and many of them will prevail into inventions which will only brighten our future as a whole. Regardless of the level of education, everyone should have access to the resources and materials they need to learn and they should be available to them without much hassle and inconvenience.