A perfect 10: Web sites you should visit as a college student

The start of classes brings homework, tests, research and stress back into students' lives. Part of this routine also increases Internet usage. According to a July 2007 Burst Media online survey of 439 college students between ages 18 and 24 years old, one-third of college students spend more than 10 hours per week on the Internet and 19.6 percent spend more than 20 hours per week online.

Another result from this study revealed that 50.6 percent of college students surf the Internet while watching television and 43.5 percent are online while listening to terrestrial/satellite radio. This study also found that instant messaging is the most popular activity with both male (62.3 percent) and female (57.2 percent) college students. The entertainment activity that had the highest percentage was downloading music (53.3 percent). Since students are online for several hours every day, The Easterner investigated 10 Web sites which may help relieve some of the frustration that comes throughout the school year. In no particular order, here are the 10 Web sites:

1) Bartleby.com offers students a wide variety of reference materials (i.e. encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, quotations, and English usage), verse, fiction and nonfiction.

2) Noodletools.com provides software that "teaches students and supports teachers and librarians throughout the entire research process." Also, Noodletools.com assists students with writing bibliographies and making note cards to accompany them.

3) Gradefix.com helps students organize their lives so homework gets finished on time. Students have the option to join for free or pay $5 per month for a few extra perks.

4) Ectolearning.com is a free site which allows students from around the world to have an active role in their learning experience. Students can create, collaborate and share with video, graphics, and text tools they already use. The classroom is set up like a virtual chat room with a whiteboard to type on, draw on, etc.

5) Talkbean.com is another Global E-Learning service that allows people to exchange knowledge, language skills or experiences. Their Web site has an in-depth tutorial to help users get started.

6) Ratemyprofessors.com is a free Web site where students can write reviews and rate their professors. When taking a class from a new professor, it's nice to have an idea of what to expect.

7) Gradspot.com is a site for information about "life after college." The Web site is made up of Survival Guides, which have in-depth how-to information dealing with the most common post-grad issues.

8) Notely.com is an online tool which helps students get organized. Some of the features on Notely.com are: a calendar, to-do list, homework organizer, a way to manage courses, write and save notes, organize links, contacts, and files, and keep a notebook or lab book.

9) Ecampusgroups.com is free for individual student groups and can be purchased by universities as a portal solution. Some of the features on the Web site are: club officer management, membership, event marketing and registration, survey and polls, and much more. To date, Eastern Washington University is not listed here. 10) Yelp.com is the site to visit to find out about places to go and things to do. There are lists for restaurants, shopping, places to visit, etc.

To see more of these lesser known Web sites, visit http://mashablecom.com/2007/08/13/collegetoolbox/. To learn more interesting facts about the Internet usage of college students, visit http://www.burstmedia.com/assets/newsletter/items/2007_07_01.pdf.