College-Cram offers e-learning resources in the following Humanities subjects. (Click the subject to access those resources.)

Mythology: We are dedicated to learning more about Mythology around the world from Greek, Roman, American Indian, to the Aborigines in Australia. Join in and create, connect, and learn with other learners who are passionate about Mythology.

US Government: The US Government draws from its past roots in Europeanand western societies, and is ripe for detailed study. Use our collection of Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, and articles to help you learn its structure and sources.

World Studies: The world is a big place, filled with a variety of cultures and countries. Use our collection of Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, and articles toshed light on other peoples with which you may not yet be familiar.

Miscellaneous:  Various students contributed these resources in a variety of formats and subjects, some college-related and others (like baking cheesecakes) not so much. Enjoy!

College-Cram offers e-learning resources in the following foreign language subjects. (Click the subject to access those resources.)

French: Bonjour, and welcome to our French Language resources featuring French Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, and articles all designed to help you absorb this language.

German: Guten Tag, and welcome to our German Language resource collection featuring German Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, and articles all designed to help you learn German more effectively.

Spanish:  Buenas tardes, and welcome to our Spanish Language resource collection featuring Spanish Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, and articles all designed to help you learn the colorful Spanish language.

College-Cram offers e-learning resources in the following science subjects. (Click the subject to access those resources.)

Astronomy:  Venus, Saturn, photosphere, Sea of Crises, Nebulae, Scorpius, and Constellations are just a few of the things you will find in this resource collection. Inside this community you will find Astronomy Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, and articles to help reach for the stars in astronomy.

Biology: Check out what we have been incubating here in the biology community. Do you need help with cells, organisms, or anatomy? If so, then you are in the right place to learn from our Biology Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, and articles. If you think you need more than osmosis to learn join up and connect with others who are passionate about the growth of biology.

Chemistry: Welcome to the Chemistry community or "Lab." We are all about mixing it up around here from H₂0 to Carbon Monoxide. Check out the interactive periodic table or molar mass formula solver or other Chemistry Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, and articles to help you learn chemistry and make a better grade.

Physics:  If you need the force to help you learn about kinetic energy, magnitude, or Newton's laws then you are in the right place. Accelerate your learning with our Physics Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, and articles designed to help you leverage a better grade in physics.

College-Cram offers e-learning resources in the following math subjects. (Click the subject to access those resources.)

College Algebra: A dedicated community of learners for Algebra and College Algebra, we love to share that knowledge, create learning opportunities and connect with one another about Algebra. Do you need help? Check out our Cramlets, Study Sheets, and Tutorials.

Business Math:  Let's get down to business and do the math in the Business Math Community. When you think your grade might be "Marked Down" then check out our resource of Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, and articles. We are here to help one another and promote the skills needed to new entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

Pre-Calculus: We are all about the pre-calculus here. If you need help join up and look through our interactive Pre-Calculus Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials and articles.

Trigonometry: We are all about the angles here - hypotenuse, right angle, and triangle! Welcome to the Trigonometry community where you can find helpful learning modules (Cramlets™), study sheets, tutorials, and helpful articles. Take the time to connect with other learners, the content, and with learning about trigonometry.

College-Cram offers e-learning resources in the following business subjects. (Click the subject to access those resources.)

Accounting: It's time to learn how to account for all that we can learn in the Accounting Community. If the caffeine is starting to wear off and you need a little credit on the right to offset the debit on the left in your studying then you have found the place. Check out our Accounting Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, formula solvers, and articles to adjust your accounting grade and help you learn accounting terms.

Economics: So you are demanding some help with economics, well we are ready to supply what you need in the Economics Community. Check out our Economics Cramlets™ (learning modules), study sheets, tutorials, formula solvers, and articles to help equalize a profitable grade.

Finance: It is time to finance another round of schooling for all of us. If you are wanting to understand the financial statements better or just needing to understand EBITDA we have the right ratio of Finance Cramlets™ (Learning Modules), study sheets, tutorials, and articles to find a balance with your grade.

Recently, two of the top three college textbook publishers announced plans to get into the textbook rental business. On its face this seems like a good deal for college students, but the real question is whether this heralds a beginning of cheaper textbook prices or is just another pricing stunt from an industry famous for stunting.

For years, the college textbook publisher business model has been consistent. Most of the revenues the publisher gets for a new edition comes in the first semester. Over the remaining life of that edition, competition and used books chew up an increasing amount of the market share and reduce the publisher revenues to a trickle. This is why publishers charge high prices for the books so they can be sure to recoup their expenses. From a student’s perspective, the average cost of that textbook is similar — almost all copies that first semester cost full retail price, with cheaper used books making up more of the volume in subsequent semesters. Used book dealers make their money after the first semester assuming they bet correctly on the books still being in demand. (Meaning, they buy back books they think will be in need again, and decline to buy back books that won't be used and longer.)

(See how the money gets divided in the secret behind textbook costs.)

In a textbook rental scenario, things change for everyone:

• Publishers get less money that first semester (reflecting the 40-70% of retail price floated by Cengage), but continue to get similar revenue levels in subsequent semesters because there are few if any used books. Their revenue curve, which before was extremely front-loaded, is now more level. In fact, the ongoing revenue potential could in some cases extend the hyper-accelerated revision cycle leaving the same edition in play for longer (further raising the profitability of that edition.) Sounds like a win for the publisher.
• Students get to spend less that first semester for their textbook, but in subsequent semesters can end up paying more since there are no more cheap used books. (This is especially true in cases where the student wants to keep the textbook, since in the absence of used books they are forced to purchase at full price.) Sounds like a loss for the student unless they’re in that first semester.
• Used book dealers really get screwed on this one, since their supply and market both dry up entirely. A resounding LOSS for them.

For years the used book market has been kicking the publishers' asses, revenue-wise. For a while they had some success with bundling the textbook with workbooks or CDs/DVDs, knowing that bookstores wouldn’t buy those back and forcing them to replenish their stocks from the publisher (at full price). Now, with rentals, it appears that they’ve hit on another tactic that could solve their problem.

How about the college student’s problem of higher textbook costs, though? It doesn’t seem like their expenses are getting a reduction… #FAIL

 

Thanks to your votes for nominations and first round of voting, College-Cram is a finalist for this year's awards in the "How To" category. Mashable recognizes social networking websites in various categories in its annual awards competition. College-Cram is nominated as "How-To" since Mashable doesn't feature a "social learning" category (yet). In fact, College-Cram.com is the only social learning site in the Open Web Awards competition this year, and it will take the help of students on campuses around the world to put them over the top in the final round of voting.

Social learning is a mashup of social networking and educational resources. Many websites offer tools or frameworks that help students organize themselves, but a true social learning site also has actual academic help for students trying to pass their courses. College-Cram is a true social learning site. Rudy Lopes, (VP of Operations) said “Maybe if we win, next year they will add a social learning category. That would be a good thing.”

You can vote once per day for each email address you have. When you submit your vote you receive an emailed confirmation link to complete the vote. College-Cram.com made it easy to vote by pre-filling the form to the left - just add your email address and click submit.

If you are concerned about giving out your email addresses (and you should be), we voted last year and heard nary a peep back all year. This is administered by PollDaddy – the same folks who run polls for us from time to time. We trust them or we wouldn’t be asking you to participate.”

As they say, “Vote early and vote often!” Voting runs through December 14, 2008.

UPDATE: We ended up taking second place for this award. Thanks to all who voted for us, we'll get 'em next year!

The presidential election is over, but the Mashable 2nd Annual Open Web Awards voting is just starting. This is your chance to tell the world how you feel about College-Cram.com.

College-Cram.com has been nominated for Mashable’s Open Web awards. Our nomination is in the "How To" category. You can vote once per day for each email address you have – and I have several. They send you a confirmation link to complete the vote.

We made it easy to vote by pre-filling the form for you - just add your email address and submit the form below.

(Note: Voting is closed for this award.)

Mashable recognizes social websites in various categories each year. College-Cram is a social learning site - mashup of social networking and educational resources. (We nominated ourselves as "How-To" since they don't feature a "social learning" category.)

If you are concerned about giving out your email addresses (and you should be), I voted last year and heard nary a peep back all year. This is administered by PollDaddy – the same folks who run polls for us from time to time. We trust them or we wouldn’t be asking you to participate.

Thanks for your help. Vote early and vote often! Voting runs until December 15, 2008.

Mashable.com is hosting the 2nd annual Open Web Awards, and we'd like to see College-Cram.com nominated for the Niche Social Networking category. Go ahead and vote here to help us make the cut!

(BTW, there is also the How-To category we could qualify for, so please vote for that one too!)

Mashable Open Web Awards

Increasingly, students are turning to distance learning to supplement or replace their "real world" college education. Lower commuting costs and living expenses can influence this, but often it's just a better fit with busy schedules. Besides, the perception of a degree from an online institution is less of a problem than it used to be.

With so much of a distance learning experience being web-based, it's only natural for distance learners to supplement the "official" textbook with other online learning resources. That's why many distance learning students have turned to College-Cram.com to help them prepare for tests. With hundreds of resources available for Accounting, Algebra, and Chemistry a student can usually find the help they need.

Social learning also makes College-Cram helpful for online study. Each subject boasts a blog,with individual Cramlets covering key concepts in each chapter. Don't quite understand a topic? Post a comment and get help from others, or pitch in yourself to help out another student. This educational collective makes distance learning easier for all.

With ready access to learning resources, students can't help but find it easier to get better grades in less time.