Tech Tools
As a student in the age of technology, it is important to have the right computer equipment to ensure the best possible learning experience. Electronic communication is the preferred method of communication for students, faculty and staff. In order to take advantage of this technology, it is required that students, faculty and staff acquire and maintain email access with the capability to send and receive attached files.
Free Publishing Software Alternatives
Some software that students are required to use might seem expensive at first, but don’t worry! There are free alternatives to pricey software like Microsoft Office. Check out these tools that can publish documents in the same file formats as the the big brand names.
Only Office
Downloads, Plug-Ins & Freeware
The free Adobe Acrobat Reader is a cross-platform freely distributable software that lets you view and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files.
Google Chrome is a fast, secure, and free web browser built for the modern web.
The award-winning Web browser from Mozilla is now faster, even more secure, and totally customizable to your online life.
Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. Internet Explorer 7 provides improved navigation through tabbed browsing, web search right from the toolbar, advanced printing, easy discovery, reading and subscription to RSS feeds, and much more.
Macromedia Shockwave plugin. Shockwave Player is the web standard for powerful multimedia playback. The Shockwave Player allows you to view interactive web content like games, business presentations, entertainment, and advertisements from your web browser.
QuickTime is Apple’s technology for handling video, sound, animation, graphics, text, music, and even 360-degree virtual reality (VR) scenes.
The free RealPlayer 10.5 is the first product that integrates Real’s revolutionary new Harmony technology. RealPlayer enables consumers to buy and download music that plays on more than 100 portable devices, including the Apple iPod.
WinZip, the original and most popular compression utility for Windows, is a powerful and easy-to-use tool that quickly zips and unzips your files to conserve disk space and greatly reduce e-mail transmission time. Trial versions available.
StuffIt Lite is the award winning industry-standard shareware compression utility for the Macintosh.
CuteFTP Professional is an award-winning FTP Client for securely and reliably transferring files over industry standard protocols including FTP, FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS and SSH. It’s the right choice when you want the ultimate in power, performance and security. Trial versions available.
SmartFTP is an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client which allows you to transfer files between your local computer and a server on the Internet.
Hardware & Software
Hardware:
- Intel or Intel‐compatible Pentium 4 class 2 GHz processor or higher
- 500Gb HDD
- 4 GB RAM or higher
- Speaker or Headphones and a microphone
- Monitor that supports 1280×1024 resolution or higher
- Broadband connection (i.e., DSL or cable modem that supports 5 Mbps or higher)
Operating System:
- Microsoft Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 (32 or 64 bit) and/or
- Apple Mac OS X 10.6 or higher
Browser:
Use the latest version of your favorite browser.
- Google Chrome (Mac or PC)
- Mozilla Firefox (Mac or PC)
- Microsoft Internet Explorer (PC)
- Safari (Mac or PC)
Programs:
- Microsoft Office 2013 (PC) and/or
- Microsoft Office 2011 (Mac)
Recommended:
- Software for reading documents (like Adobe PDF reader)
- Software for creating documents (like Microsoft Office or Open Office)
- A printer for having hard copies of important documents
- Webcam
Plug-ins / Add-ons:
This is optional software that will facilitate your learning experience. Browsers use “plug-ins” (mini applications installed within the browser itself) to enable richer Web experiences. The plug-ins listed below are the more common applications that Web sites use; check your online course syllabus to find out if you will need any of the software in your course. IAU offers its own download section from where you can get all the software that you will need for your online course. It is always a good idea to check for software in IAU’s download section before buying any.
- Macromedia Shockwave
- Macromedia Flash
- Apple Quick Time Video
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Windows Media Player
- Java
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
56K or faster Internet connection is required for online courses, however broadband is strongly encouraged, for example DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) or Cable.
Online Academic Resources
American City Business
Free access to articles from metropolitan business journals and newspapers. Search by selecting a source or search all sources at once. Covers 1996–present. Business Law Comprehensive site where you can find answers to your business legal questions, find a lawyer, download forms, or browse a continuously updated series of articles.
Bibme
Professors seem to always want writing assignments in certain formats and different citations and bibliographies for certain types of papers. If you’re taking multiple classes at once, it can be difficult to keep up with which format goes where. Whatever format it is, BibMe helps to put your sources in the right format.
Biz Tech Network
Extensive community portals for Business Technology Management and Knowledge Management professionals. This site has research links for almost any area of interest.
Federal Business Opportunities
FedBizOpps.gov (www.fbo.gov) is the single government point-of-entry for Federal government procurement opportunities over $25,000.
Fortune 500
A complete listing of all 500 companies, plus company profiles with full list and industry data, up-to-date stock information, and articles
Global 500
A complete listing of 500 global companies.
Google Directory of Business and Management Resources
Google’s collection of sources on business and management.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is the best thing since, well, Google. It indexes scholarly, peer-reviewed, scholarly sources across a variety of formats and disciplines that you can use in your papers and research. It’s estimated to contain over 160 million documents so you’re bound to find what you need.
Grammarly
It’s annoying when you have a great paper, but your grammar is sub par. Improve your writing — spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and tense usage — with Grammarly. With their app, you can check your paper from your browser or from Microsoft Word. Be confident when you submit your work that it is error-free.
Guide To Financials
Provides a basic introduction to reading the financial statements in a company’s annual report. Includes information on finding financial statements on the web.
History Of Economic Thought
Schools of thought, Essays and Surveys, alphabetical index of economists throughout history.
Hoovers
The ultimate source for company information.
Khan Academy
This is an excellent, free resource through which you can learn about many different subjects including: math, history, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, and finance, among many others. Khan produces short lectures in the form of YouTube videos. This site helps you to understand tough subjects that you may not understand as well in a traditional classroom setting.
Knowledge@Wharton
A bi-weekly online resource, that offers the latest business insights, information, and research from a variety of sources.
Private 500
Annual listing of America s largest private companies ranks U.S. headquartered firms that don’t have widely held common stock, and revenue of more that $1 billion.
Public Register’s Annual Report Service
Order free annual reports covering 3,000+ companies.
Quizlet
Quizlet is a flashcard/study guide website. Anyone can create flashcards for any subject, but generally, you will find flashcards for nearly every subject you’ll ever take. (Personal note: I passed a class with the help of their flashcards.) You can also take practice tests and play games to make learning more interactive and be able to retain more of what you learn.
Roger Hub
When it comes to final exam time, you’ll want to know what you need to get in order to have a certain grade point average. Roger Hub is your answer. Whether your professor uses points, weighting, or percentages, you can figure out what your final grade will be beforehand.
Statistics of U.S. Businesses
Statistics of U.S. Businesses (SUSB) is an annual series that provides national and sub-national data on the distribution of economic data by size and industry. Statistics of U.S. Businesses covers most of the country’s economic activity. The series excludes data on self-employed individuals, employees of private households, railroad employees, agricultural production employees, and most government employees.
Strategy & Business
An online source that brings operations and marketing together
TED.com – Ideas Worth Spreading
Ted.com is one of the most awesome sites around. Whether you’re looking for ideas for a paper, need some inspiration, or are simply constructive procrastinating, there are many valuable lessons to learn from world-class, intelligent, and successful people.
Thomas Register of American Manufacturers
You must register to use but the service is free and enables a search of over 155,000 companies and 3,100 online supplier catalogs.
Tutor.com
Need a tutor? Tutor.com offers 24/7 tutoring in over 40 different subjects. Get a tutor — day or night — in math, science, computer science, social studies, and English subjects. Additionally, tutors are available to help SAT test prep and advanced courses. Tutors go through an extended interview process and are fully equipped to help students in specific subjects. (Personal note: I passed college algebra with the help of one of their amazing tutors.)
Wolfram-Alpha
Thought Google knew the answer to everything? Think again. Wolfram Alpha is a practical know-it-all engine. Essentially, it will answer your homework assignment questions for you or guide you to resources to get your questions answered. If you ask me, it’s a lifesaver.