Of Coursera, Why stop learning?

There are a ton of tools out there for students to utilized and benefits from. The one I chose is coursera.org.  It’s an online learning site for students to take advantage of free courses offered by top colleges and universities around the world.  You pick the topic and select the course you want to take.

I chose this web tool because I am a lifetime learner. This site offers pretty much any topic you want to know about.  From what I have seen all the courses are free if you want to just take the course, but you can’t any or the tests and get credit for taking the classes.  There is a fee if you want to get credit and take tests.  The challenge is picking the course that is available during the time you want. It’s all online, but some classes don’t start at the exact time you want. For example, I searched for “digital marketing” courses. There is a course at University of Illinois that started on April 17^th and will run for 4 weeks only. So I would be behind the class in learning.

The tool is fairly easy to use.  After you sign up, you just search for the topic, read about it, and enroll in the class you want to take.  There are syllabuses you can read before enrolling.   You can audit the course for free, which provides you with all the readings, videos, and material, as if you are a student in the classes. You just don’t get the grade or credit for it.  You can pay for it too, but you will need to provide a CC number.  

People have been using coursera for all kinds of reasons.  To hone their skill level at work, like leadership or business. To learn about something that they are interest in like a hobby.  Or to just keep learning about stuff.  We shouldn’t stop learning. Coursera is a way to learn from many different institutions around the world.

Actually, I just looked up some basic coding stuff and stated to watch some videos of coding from John Hopkins.  It’s very cool and fun.  I think I could use coursera for personal interests and to learn about work related materials like, data warehousing.

I guess as a user of coursera.org I could say that I like to learn. 

Your privacy is not jeopardized when taking these courses,if you don’t provide any personal information.  However, they do send you an email the minute you start to audit the class for free. I already got a few emails! If you pay for a course, you will need to provide a Credit Card information.  As for using the free material, I don’t need to be too concerned at this point.  

I just found out there is a course on drones I can audit. Great stuff. 

My Choice ZipBooks - Your personal free accountant

The application I chose is zipbooks.  https://app.zipbooks.com/  It is a cloud based accounting tool for individuals or small businesses to help manage their expenses and create invoices for customers.

The have several reasons why I selected this as my choice tool. I needed a better way to organize my expenditures to assist with my taxes at the end of the year.  I currently use a spreadsheet to manually keep track of my transactions throughout the year to help separate my business cost and my personal transactions.  This is very tedious work and not very efficient for a small business.  This application allows you import expenses from your accounts (banks, CC, etc..) details.  After you have imported the data, all you need to do is categorize the transactions and add any additional notes if you want.  

You also can manually input your transactions, if you don’t want to import the data from your bank or CC. You can also add new categories to help keep your expenses in categories your understand.  It also allows you to create invoices to send to your vendors.  And it integrates with Google drive, and Chrome. The best part is it’s FREE!   

It’s easy to use. You can sign up via Google or create your account. After that, then it asked you to set up a bank to pull the data from. You can just start entering manual transactions without a bank set up, if you want.  There are plenty of features for a freelancer or a small business owner to use too.  The interface is clean and easy to navigate through the application.  I have not downloaded the mobile app but you can upload receipts easily. 

Many small business or freelancers have been using this web tool to keep them better organized with their business.  Many people have found it easier to prepare their taxes because they can easily download reports to show what transactions they made.  Others wanted a cheap and easy to use an accounting software for themselves.

I would use zipbooks for my ecommerce business to help separate my personal expenses.  With little resources to help on regular accounting, zipbooks will simplify the work when it comes to prepare taxes.  It will help shows the amounts coming in and out of the business.  I will use it professionally.  Someone could easily use it for personal, if he or she has a very business life with many expenses to manage. 

As far as what I want zipbooks to say about me?  I guess that I take my finances seriously and don’t want Uncle Sam to take more than he needs to.  And I like to take advantage of quality free productivity tools. Ha!  

I want to be a secure as possible with my finances.  There are a lot or privacy measures that zipbooks puts in place for protection. Since it is a cloud-based software, I can securely use the tool anywhere there is a connection.  You can read the privacy and safety measure zipbooks takes for their users here:  https://zipbooks.com/security/    

I learned that this is rated one of the top accounting software and it’s free.  Not many are free. I checked out the Waveapp accounting tool (free too) and it’s a lot limited to what you can do with the categories.  It was also slower with uploads.  Here is a review on zipbooks https://reviews.financesonline.com/p/zipbooks/  

Google Keep

First off, I am a Google junkie so I have heard or used most of these applications before.  Maybe, I should diversify more and look for other options in case my account gets compromised.  But, as they say, “If you like something, stick with it.”   

The application that I chose that I have not used is Google Keep. It allows you to keep notes, messages, and reminders. I currently use one today, but I want it to synch with my calendar and my Google account.  What is important to me is that synchs with Google and makes my life easier.  It set up reminders to keep me on track.

As with most of my Google applications, it was simple to use. Just add a note or a reminder and it will show up on your screen and save on the cloud.  It synchs up with your calendar, so that is a bonus.  People have been using it for quick reminders.  On a mobile device, a person can speak the reminder easily. I may use it to remind me of tasks I need to get done. I like to-do lists and checking them off.  It makes me feel like I did something.

I think I can mainly use it for personal use, but can use it for professional use as well.  What I want Google to say about me is that I like to try their products. As far as privacy goes, I need to change or update my password regularly to prevent a security breach. Since I use so many of Google products, I need to be extra careful.  I also learned that I can save a drawing as a mote to myself. 

What think I learned about Google Keep is that it's all part of the Google ecosystem which helps me not lose stuff easily since I use a lot of their tools. 

Social Bookmarking

The bookmarking site I chose is https://del.icio.us/. The tool allows you to keep your bookmarks in one location and share it with others. You can also see what others are bookmarking too. It’s a good way to find new cool sites.

Unfortunately, I tried selecting 4-5 other bookmark sites including the google site and it did not work. They seem like they were a good way to organize your bookmark. Delicious was a basic bookmarking site that allowed me to keep all my bookmarks site and share them easily.

 It was not too bad to sign up. A name, user name and email was needed to sign up. Navigation was not too self-explanatory. There are four tabs: me, feed, following and followers. On the top right, there was a button to add bookmark links to. When I clicked on them, there were not clear direction on what to do. It allowed me to shop for products too.

 People have been using these sites to find links again. A way to quickly bookmark it and go back to it later to find. They can use it to share what sites they bookmark too.

 I could use this as a way to tag sites and find it later. There are hundreds of sites we look at each day. Bookmarks sites like this can help simplify your life. Currently, I don't see this something I need professionally yet.  Personally, it could be of use..

 For a bookmark site I will share, I would like it to say I enjoy sharing electronic deals. I also like it to show I share motivating video clips.

 You don’t have too share too much information about yourself. So keeping yourself private is simple to do on this site. Not sure it matters too much on bookmark sites.

 I learned that these bookmark site can have value to find sites easily. However, I think the interface of the site needs some work.

Social Network

The social Networking tool I chose to select is meetup.com. I have heard a lot of good things about the social site, so I thought to check it out. The site allows you to connect in person with different interest groups throughout the country. For example, interest groups can range from, cycling groups, to business groups, to pet lover groups. You name your interest, and there might be a meet up group for it. If there isn’t one, you can create your own meet up group too.

 I selected the site because I saw a Minnesota Entrepreneur group that interested me. There were also other MN business groups that sound cool too.

 The site was very easy to sign up. It allowed me to sign up using my Google or Facebook account too. It pulled information from those accounts to populate, and then asked for my interests or interests groups I would like to know more about. I could also add a photo and give a description of myself. I could skip those sections and go back to it later. Other than that, it is very simple to sign up for meet up groups.

 Many people have been using this site to find other people with same interests. Others have used it to network their business. Others have used it as a singles site too. Others have used it to create a new groups to meet up. It is like taking your own e-portfolio and meeting with people who share similar interests.

 I would use Meet Up to share ideas or get new ideas from people who are small business owners. I think I could learn a lot from this meet up experience. Mostly, I would use it professionally, but there are a few personal groups that sound interesting too.

 I would want my social network site to say I’m willing to meet with other people to talk about similar interest on business.

 For a face to face meet up group, you don’t have to tell everything about yourself. You can keep as private or open as you want to be. Just talk about your interests. So you can protect your identity as much as you want. I am not sure I need to protect too much, if I trust the group I a meeting. I would say, use discretion for groups you are not too familiar with.

I learned that meeting new can be intimidating. So perhaps messaging a few people on Facebook in the meet-up group might be a good idea beforehand. Or go with a buddy. It will allow you to get to know a few people before meeting them. Have an open mind.

organization and productivity - Do you remember your password?

I chose from the organization and productivity category this time. I didn’t really pick a super creative web too, but a much needed tool for me. I selected a password manager on passpack.com. It is a way to help organize, manage, and share passwords privately, if one is shared. Many of us have multiple passwords that we are trying to remember. 

I have over 50 passwords to manage that I use weekly. Every new account I open, requires a password. Also, some sites require changing passwords every so often. Some families share accounts too. Using a secure location to help manage the growing list of passwords will help significantly for me. Furthermore, being a student and self-employed, I have new sets of accounts I am opening up that requires a log in and password.

 It’s a problem that can relieve my frustration of remembering passwords. The site is not too difficult to use. There is also a facebook page that you can message if you have any questions. You need a log-in name, a password, and a statement to remember(when screen locks). The free account allows you to keep up to 100 passwords. The screen site locks after 5 minutes so it helps keep your information secure.

Many people and business have used the site to help them, their partners and employees manage passwords securely on one location. People can share and send their passwords privately to others that you include on the site.

 This helps with keeping passwords secure, instead of sending it through a public email server like gmail or yahoo. With so many potential online security breaches, it helps keep passwords secure.

 I would use this web tool for my passwords to keep track of in one location. Also, I might use it to share passwords to others, if I have a joint account. I definitely can use this professionally and personally.

 I learned that keeping passwords on an excel spreadsheet might not be the best way to manage them because it may not be that secure. Just like someone would lock his or her house when leaving the place. We need to lock our passwords the same way.

Education skills - Don't forget how to type

I chose a tool from the education category. Being more educated by learning new and improving on current skills is an interest of mine. So I chose a web typing tool typing.com. In business, typing is important when communicating via email. Most of us communicate by typing at work, home, or at school. By being an accurate and faster typist, it can help improve productivity and get communication out faster. I think it’s a skill we don’t want to forget when we work with computers.

 The site is easy to use. I picked the lesson and it was self-explanatory from that point forward. It also has the different typing skills and challenge levels. There are also tutorials to help improve typing skills. The great thing is the site has a free and paid version for more advanced typing skills.

 I think people have used these tools in school class curriculum for practicing typing or to improve his or her typing skills. It can be used for home schooling as well. It can be used as a competition because the tool tracks typing speed and accuracy. It’s a very practical skill to have, especially when younger generations are using abbreviations to get their message across. Typing cannot be a lost skill.
Well, I will use the tool to improve my typing accuracy. Many people lose typing ability if they do not practice the still. Typing is a skill I will use professionally and personally. 

I type in both settings. What I learned that I look down at my keyboard while I type. I also take my hand off the keyboard when I type numbers. I can practice without lifting my hand off to reach the numbers. By improving my typing skills will help improve my typing speed and accuracy.