Pearson Education is the largest educational company in the world, and they’re building a site to get teens ready for college.  They are looking for Internet savvy teens like you, to test out beta versions of their site and give them your honest feedback about what works for you and what doesn’t.  Their studies are completed entirely online, and there’s no special software to download or install. In return, you’ll get a $10 Amazon.com gift card for every study you successfully complete. Interested students must be in middle or high school and between 13 and 18 years old to participate. In order to qualify, you must also complete one unpaid eligibility survey.  This is a great opportunity for you guys to expand your knowledge and experience of UX design while making a little extra cash and helping improve online education all at the same time!

Here’s a link to the eligibility survey to get started!

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$5 off

The second coupon code is for 15% off any order. Their pricing is organized so that if you buy an annual plan, it’s like getting 2 free months.

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15% off

Honestly, I love ASO! The price is great, and the space is more than enough for what I use. ( I have the small plan) When I have problems, these guys are quick to respond. Not to mention that they are an actual company, not little kids trying to sell you stuff. Did  I mention that they also support reselling? Fun stuff!

As the leader of a virtual team, you are charged with the task of keeping individuals from around the world on task. You need to track your employees and make sure that they are paid on time. Project management can be difficult, but there are several office management tools designed to simplify the process.

1. Basecamp

Basecamp is the management tool of choice for project managers everywhere. Track your project from start to finish by creating milestones, tasks, and deadlines for members of your global team. Basecamp provides storage for your commonly used files. Advanced subscriptions allow you to do time tracking.

[Pricing: Basic service starts at $24 a month for 15 projects and 5GB storage]

2. Google Calendar

Keep track of individual and group calendars using Google Calendar. Schedule events and tasks for yourself with the easy to use interface. Maintain multiple calendars and receive email or mobile text-message reminders of upcoming events.

[Pricing: Free]

3. Github

Git is a primary version control system. Software developers place their source code at Github so other members of the project can evaluate and edit. An excellent tool for those virtual teams who work with coding sites and other applications.

[Pricing: Free for open source, plans start at $7 a month for 5 private repositories]

4. Skype

Communicate with members of your team using Skype. The application uses the internet to connect users from all over the world. You can send quick instant messages, talk to other users and discuss your project plans for free. Conduct team meetings using Skype’s group instant messaging feature.

[Pricing: Free for Skype-to-Skype calls, cheap rates for Skype-to-non-Skype calls]

5. Vyew

With Vyew, you can share your PowerPoint presentations with the rest of the team. There is no special software to download, as it is web based. Collaborate and exchange files with ease while you conduct global meetings from this persistent platform. Get new employees up-to-date by directing them to archived presentations.

[Pricing: Free up to 10 participants, $6.95 monthly for 50 Vyewbooks]

6. Creative Pro Office

Creative Pro office is a project management tool with group calendars, a time clock, and task management. Get an overall view of the project from your dashboard. You can create individual team productivity reports or see what is happening with your groups. See the open tasks using the calendar.

[Pricing: Starts at $5 monthly for 10 active projects and 3 users]

7. Google Docs

Share your documents with members of the team. Google Docs helps you create spreadsheets, text documents and presentations with an easy-to-use interface. Google Docs can perform OCR on your PDF documents so you can edit them from anywhere. Bring multiple files online to be shared by everyone.

[Pricing: Free]

8. Springnote

Set up a wiki for the collaboration of ideas and projects. Springnote allows input from all registered users. They can edit, add and delete information and track the changes. This open-source web-based application is perfect for those users who want an informal setting for those formal ideas.

[Pricing: Free]

9. Harvest

Harvest is essential tracking and invoicing software. Invoice your clients with a few clicks and receive your money faster than with mailed invoices. Every active user can enter their time onto a timesheet, so project managers can keep a handle on budgets at a glance.

[Pricing: Solo plans start at $12 a month for 1 active user and unlimited projects]

10. 16 Bugs

16 Bugs is a simple bug tracking tool. This web-based application easily integrates with Basecamp and Campfire. Keep track of which developer is taking care of each bug. Receive your information as a feed so you are not constantly referring to the site. Each time that someone has a bug, you get an email notification.

[Pricing: Free, Basic plans start at $8 monthly for 3 active projects and 500MB of storage]

Gone are the days where you have to manage your global team using only pen and paper. Applications like Basecamp, Skype and Google Calendar were developed to help you communicate with your team and keep them on target. Your office becomes much more productive when you have great tracking tools.

As a teenager it can sometimes be hard to begin learning something new outside of school because you’ll often have to pay for the learning resources (books, videos, private tutoring / mentoring, evening classes, etc) yourself and without a job – Or a job that doesn’t pay as much as you’d like it to, it can be hard to really get to grips with learning something worthwhile with the right resources available. You don’t have to start off with buying second-hand books on Web Design that were published 10 years ago and are no longer relevant because in this article I’m going to list 20 free resources for learning Web Design that are relevant and new materials that have been published within the past few years.

In this article you’ll find the following free resource types:

• Books
• Online Curriculums
• Videos
• Web Communities

Free Books

There are hundreds of free eBooks available online to download and print off for your own educational use. Some of the best free eBooks are listed below to help you get started before you start buying the books.

1. Dive Into Accessibility
2. Taking Your Talent to the Web the Web
3. The Web Book
4. Web Style Guide
5. Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide
6. The Elements of Typographic Style
7. Eloquent JavaScript
8. The Yahoo! Style Guide
9. The Art and Science of Web Design
10. Designing for the Web

Online Curriculums

With online curriculums and structured courses you’ll have a structured learning plan from start to finish where you’ll complete objectives throughout by covering both theory and practicals. Although there are only three listed below, you’ll only need these three to get yourself started on the path to becoming a Web professional.

1. Opera Web Standards Curriculum
2. WaSP InterACT Curriculum
3. MSDN Beginner Developer Learning Center – Web Development

Free Videos

It’s a well known fact that some people love to read a good book and some people prefer to watch a video and listen to a person talking about what the video is about, so I’ve also scoured the Web for some of the best, most useful, free video tutorials available. Enjoy.

1. Think Vitamin – Learn Web Design – Free Tutorial Videos
2. Nettuts+ – Who Needs University? The Best Nettuts+ Screencast Training Courses
3. SitePoint – The CSS Video Crash Course
4. Killer PHP – Beginners PHP Course [Note: Only the tutorials with active links are free]

Web Communities

Just like in the offline world / real life where you can talk to friends and professionals who can give you hints and tips about this and that you can find even more online through their own Websites, free magazines and blogs, as well as online community forums. You could sign up to any of the free and professional communities listed below where you can find help on your Web Design / Development adventures.

1. SitePoint Forums
2. MSDN Forums
3. SoDevious Forums

Hopefully you’ll be able to learn something from one or more of the resources listed in this article and you’ll be well on your way to becoming an amazingly talented Web Designer / Developer. If you’ve got a free learning resource that I haven’t listed here but you think should be here then share it with us in the comments!

Google Search for mobile

To use this feature, you’ll need to have access to Mobile Internet. In your mobile browser, navigate to m.google.com to begin your Google Search. There is even an option to have this address sent to your mobile phone via SMS. It has all the features that you would find at Google on your regular computer.

Google Maps for Mobile

Now you can actually carry Google Maps in your pocket, and you don’t even need a fancy phone! Just go to m.google.com/maps in your mobile browser. I tried this with Mobile Web (Verizon) on my cell phone, and it worked great! You can see location details and a map as well.

Gmail for Mobile

Now you can get your Gmail wherever you are! I use this feature all the time; it can be accessed at gmail.com from your phone’s mobile browser.

Google Sync

With your smartphone (BlackBerry, iPhone, Nokia S60, Windows etc) you can use your device to sync your email, calendar and contacts all in one place!

Google Buzz for Mobile

With Google Buzz for Mobile, you can easily see the ‘buzz’ going on around you at buzz.google.com on your mobile browser.

YouTube

At m.google.com/youtube you can easily watch any video, even if you only have access to mobile web.

iGoogle

Now you can bring your Google dashboard anywhere with iGoogle at igoogle.com.

Now, lets say that you don’t have access to any kind of Mobile Web. There are ways to get your self Google-fied even still. With these following services, all you need is text messaging and phone service!

Google SMS

Now you can even send text messages to get search results! Just send a text to ‘GOOGLE‘ (466453) with your search query. You’ll get text only info, but this still proves to be a great resource. For instance, I just sent the name of a company, and got a response in seconds with it’s stock information. Works great with resaurants asw well!

An example from Google:

• Weather information. Text ‘weather’ and a specific location (e.g. [ weather boston ]) and we’ll send you a weather forecast.
• Flight Status. Get flight information by texting your flight number (e.g. [ flight aa 2111 ])
• Stock Prices. Get stock quotes by texting stock before a ticker symbol (e.g. [ stock GOOG ])

GOOG-411

Now it’s easier than ever to find a business by calling 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411). Unlike other 411 services, GOOG-411 is free!

Google Calendar Events

In your settings in your Google Calendar, you can choose to have upcoming events texted to your device, and even request your next event! Check it out!

Google has something for everybody, and best of all it’s free!

What do you think of these services? Do you use any of them? Let us know below!