Thomas Adewumi University

Cram: More than 1.1 million users have obtained membership with this crowd-sourced flashcard site. Account-holders can create new flashcards by scratch or by importing content from their Google Drive database.

Cram offers three mobile apps: Cram, Flashcard Elite, and FlashCards++; app designers are encouraged to submit their own designs for the chance to be featured on the site.

Additional flashcards are available for law enforcement and military programs, common core testing, continuing education, and some non-academic formats.

Quizlet: This site features thousands of user-generated, flashcard-style quizzes that cover everything from medical terminology to foreign vocabulary. A variety of formats, including a formal test and games like ‘Space Race' and ‘Scatter,' make this a great tool for learners of all ages.

Specific flashcard sets are geared toward entrance exams like the SAT, LSAT, and GMAT, as well as high school-level AP courses and the GED exam.

Flashcards also cover different topics related to five professional fields (law, medicine, banking, accounting, and technology).

These sites feature simple interfaces that allow students to create study groups, upload shared content to one place, and conduct web-based group meetings. Online small groups are especially helpful for individuals who value the collaborative experience, but are not necessarily able to make the time commitment for real-world meet-ups.

Chegg: This crowdsourcing site allows users to submit questions and receive answers from other registered users. The site features a team of academic experts who address questions specific to their fields.

Open Study: This site specializes in large, virtual study groups; offerings on-site include a math group with more than 168,000 members, a physics group with more than 28,000 members, and a history group with more than 29,000 members. Visitors can also get live assistance from subject experts and chat with fellow students.

Open Study features its own points system that allows users to build a ‘SmartScore' and obtain site credentials attached to their usernames.

Users can submit subject-specific questions and receive feedback from fellow Open Study account-holders.

The site boasts more than 1 million site members in 160 different countries.

In recent years, many online education providers have begun to offer open courseware: mini-classes pertaining to a specific subject free-of-charge. Although open courses don't award actual college credits, they are a great opportunity to explore concepts related to one's coursework and major. The following sites are considered some of the top open courseware providers:

Khan Academy: One of the original purveyors of open courseware, Khan Academy offers dozens of courses related to five core subjects: math, science, economics/finance, humanities, and computing. Additional offerings include courses for entrance exam prep and ‘partner content' from institutions like the Museum of Modern Art and Stanford School of Medicine.

The student pretest allows first-time visitors to gauge the areas where they could use the most supplemental assistance.

Open course enrollees can record and track their progress using the site's Learning Dashboard.

The site also allows educators to create course modules, and other adults to play the role of ‘Coach' for the students in their lives.

MIT OpenCourseWare: In 2005, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology created the OpenCourseware Consortium, one of the first major initiatives for OCW offerings on the Web. Today, the site offers dozens of courses in 39 different academic fields of study (from aeronautics to writing).

Users can search courses by subject, academic department, or (if applicable) a corresponding MIT course number.

TAU

96% of the nearly 100,000 educators who visit the site each month claim MIT Open Courses improve on traditional offerings.

edX: Thirty-four higher-learning institutions ― including Harvard University, MIT, University of California-Berkeley, and the University of Chicago ― have contributed courses to this OCW database. At any given time, the site hosts more than 150 courses collectively instructed by more than 400 licensed college-level educators.

Courses cover 26 different academic subjects, most of which are concentrated in STEM-related fields.

Students may earn certificates of completion for all finished courses, or simply audit different classes.

Many of the courses feature interactive media, such as the 3D molecule builder.

The following sites feature materials for a wide range of different subjects. Additionally, they contain blogs, user-generated posts, games, and other content that can help make the studying process a little more entertaining and enjoyable.

CliffsNotes: Best known for their annotated guides to famous literary works (with a section dedicated to Shakespeare), CliffsNotes also features guides for math, science, foreign languages, and more. Each guide is accompanied a brief quiz and links to similar works/subjects.

SparkNotes: In addition to a comprehensive list of annotated guides to books and other popular course texts, the SparkNotes site features test prep resources, blog posts, a ‘No Fear' section for notoriously difficult texts, and a pop culture-driven section known as The MindHut.

StudyStack: This interactive site allows users to take study different subjects and take flashcard quizzes. Offerings include 30 different foreign languages, 30 subject areas related to medicine, and prep materials for 12 different entrance/exit exams.

Users submit their own data, and then have the ability to customize flashcards based on their own learning preferences.

StudyStack accounts come equipped with public profiles that allow registered users to share information with one another.

The following nine sections consider some of the best online study tools available to students in specific fields.

Artcyclopedia: This compendium of information about famous artists and their works features a navigational tool that lets users browse nearly 60 different ‘movements' (from abstract expressionism to Ukiyo-e printmaking). And not surprisingly, the site also includes thousands of high-resolution images of paintings, sculptures, and other works of art.

Site visitors can search artists and works of art by medium, subject, and nationality; there is also an entire section dedicated to female artists.

ArtLex Art Dictionary: This directory of artistic terms features more than 3,600 definitions, complete with pronunciations and (if applicable) some sample synonyms.

All content on ArtLex is crowd-sourced. Individual users contribute definitions or suggestions, and site administrators upload new terms onto the site.