By Nicole Chiu, CEIT

Some online applications can be expensive, especially on a student budget. Here are our top picks for tools to help you throughout your academic journey that won’t break the bank. For the ultra-low price of . . . free! you can reap the benefits of these online tools.

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is an online, subscription-based learning platform with thousands of video courses taught by industry experts on everything from software and web development, to photography and business. This highly useful tool is available free for all Douglas College students with College Network Access (CNA) Credentials.

Eduroam

Eduroam is a collaborative network of secure wireless access in educational institutes. It allows students to use their Douglas College credentials to access free Wi-Fi at other post-secondary institutions.

To connect, select the “Eduroam” network and enter the following credentials:

• Username: studentnumber@douglascollege.ca
• Password: Your CNA password

For a list of participating Canadian institutions, visit: www.canarie.ca/identity/institutions/

LastPass

Instead of reusing the same password or writing your passwords on a scrap of paper, try using a free password manager like LastPass. It helps you create strong passwords and stores them for you. It’s especially important to use strong passwords for all your accounts as it ensures that your information is safe from online attackers.

For your Douglas College accounts, use a minimum of 10 characters and a combination of at least three of the following:

• Lower case letters
• Upper case (capital) letters
• Numbers
• Special characters (!@#$%^&*()_+=~`.)

Take the password test to validate the strength of your password. Aim for a password that will at least three million years to crack.

For more information on accounts and passwords, visit the Logins & Passwords page.

myPath

Make sure you’re on track for graduation with myPath, an online tool designed to assist students in tracking their academic progress. It shows your entire academic record at Douglas College in an easy-to-read list of courses you have completed, or still need to complete, for your program of study.

Find out more about myPath at douglascollege.ca/myPath.

OneDrive

Upload your images, videos, and documents into the Cloud for easy access from any device with an internet connection*. As a Douglas College student, you have access to one terabyte of Cloud space on OneDrive, an internet-based file storage system provided by Microsoft Office 365. That’s enough space for a Word document with 85 million pages, over 300,000 pictures, and 41 days of video footage.

Additionally, you have access to a collection of services from Office 365. This service allows you online access to applications like Word and PowerPoint. Files uploaded onto your OneDrive will be private, and secure.

For more information on how to use Office 365, visit the Office 365 page on the Douglas College website. 

*When you leave Douglas College as a graduate or otherwise, you will lose your access to OneDrive and your files will be deleted. If you know you will soon be leaving Douglas, move your files onto your computer or upload them onto another Cloud storage service, like a personal version of Microsoft OneDrive.