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    If you are really quiet and put your ear towards the stock market, you can hear a faint grinding noise. That is the sound of the economy trying to shift into recovery mode, which is difficult considering that job losses continue to mount and credit markets remains frozen. Most businesses are still suffering and are putting together recession-fueled sales, packages, or other financial incentives in order to attract increasingly tight-fisted customers. Those who are laid off are frequently turning to higher education to either reinvent themselves or to add new skills as a worthy way to spend their free time, resulting in record enrollment numbers. Now, even schools are participating in the recession giveaway: American Sentinel University (ASU), a leading online university, is aware that lean times will continue and is offering a Kindle 2, a Dell netbook, or a bonus credit hour for students who enroll in their online classes by August 27th. These incentives are designed to help ASU students by helping them make the most of their online education experience, whether they are interested in online computer science bachelor degrees, online Masters in nursing programs, or online nursing informatics degrees.

The Kindle 2 is a boon to any higher education student, but it is especially valuable for those who are attending an online university. After being in development for years, Amazon has released a thin, portable, and high-contrast 3G reading device which works flawlessly over its proprietary WhisperNet network. As a student, the Kindle 2 allows you to download e-books (or digital textbooks!) over the WhisperNet network, read it at your leisure, and to make comprehensive notes and bookmarks. For example, if your professor assigned you an textbook to read for one of ASU's online nursing programs, you can purchase a digital copy for the fraction of the price, download it, and be reading it on the Kindle device (without a PC) within 60 seconds. The Kindle 2 is also capable of web browsing (free of charge), text-to-speech when it does not infringe audio copyrights (for visually impaired users), and automatically syncing with paid subscriptions to select newspapers, magazines, and blogs. The days of backbreaking textbooks are over since your library of textbooks can now fit in your pocket.

The Dell netbook is a similar to a shrunken laptop. As an online student, portability and connectivity are paramount - and the Dell netbook delivers both. Packing a 10 inch screen and a keyboard that is 92% the size of a full-sized keyboard, this mobile computing device allows you to attend your online classes and study anywhere, whether it is at a coffee shop or at the beach. Connectively options include Wi-Fi and support for mobile data networks to ensure that you can always download your homework when needed, and a long battery life in case you are away from an electrical outlet. This is useful because a student that is constantly connected to the Internet usually has more opportunities to complete his/her schoolwork or research - you could be waiting at the doctor's office and programming an application for one of ASU's online computer science programs at the same time.

Lastly, if both the netbook and Kindle don't prove to be good draws, ASU is offering a bonus credit hour as a way to help the student save money on their tuition fees. This is the first offer of its kind for an online university to couple their flexible online classes with tools that help the student connect, interact, and participate in the class itself - it is a good question if other universities will follow suit. For full details, please refer to ASU's full article here: http://www.americansentinel.edu/blog/2009/07/21/curious-about-kindles-and-netbooks/

About the Author

Edwin is an avid reader and writer.