Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Review ~ Virtual Nerd


Virtual Nerd is an online tutorial website that offers online assistance to 7-12th grade students in pre-algebra, algebra I, algebra 2, and Intro to Physics.  Students can gain access to hundreds of interactive step-by-step video tutorials that match up with the practice problems in their textbook, meaning any math curriculum can be used.

This two minute introduction video to Virtual Nerd is very informative.

Manipulating the website is rather simple.  After paying for a subscription to their site, the student will receive a user name and password to view a list of different topics related to the 4 different subjects, pre-algebra, algebra I, algebra 2, and Intro to Physics. Once the student has picked the subject, then they are presented with a list of the topics covered by the tutorial library.   Or they can easily do a search in the search window to locate specific topics.  My ds found the site easily accessible, too.

In the last month, I encouraged my sons to go on the Virtual Nerd website when they needed help with their pre-algebra curriculum.  All their questions were answered after viewing the tutorial videos.  I am aware of only one instance when a topic was not offered in the tutorial library that one of my boys had a question about concerning his pre-algebra lesson.  They continue to add new tutorials regularly.  However, the quality of the video was rather poor.  I'm not sure if it was due to my computer, my internet connection, or if it was their video quality. In my opinion, the quality of the video was not an issue to my children.  They did not complain.

There are several different option subscription plans that Virtual Nerd offers:

* 1 day for $5.00 one time
*1 week for $19.00 one time
*Monthly for $49.00 recurring
3 months for $129.00 one time
Or you can have a one time 2 hour trial period here.

I think that this is a well thought out program that students can highly benefit from when in need of a tutor.  It is much less expensive to subscribe to Virtual Nerd than hiring a private tutor.  Also, Virtual Nerd allows you to have 24/7 access to view the tutorial videos with unlimited use.  On the other hand, I imagine the cost is rather steep for homeschool families who mostly rely on one income. I think Virtual Nerd would greatly benefit a public or private school student who is studying for a final exam. In fact, I wish I had access to Virtual Nerd  when I was struggling through High School math back in the Dark Ages.  LOL!

I received for  free a subscription to Virtual Nerd  for the purpose of writing an honest review. No other compensation was given.


4 comments:

  1. Good review! We enjoyed this program as well!

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  2. Great job! I thought this was a good program for those that need help with math. Great resource to have in your pocket if you are a HS mom who also struggles with math.

    -lll

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  3. Stopping by from the Crew....nice review! This looks like a neat resource. I may have to consider this for PreAlgebra next year.

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  4. We thought you would like to know that because Virtual Nerd (www.VirtualNerd.com) has received such positive feedback and significant interest following your review of their online tutoring service, we are offering a special discount to homeschool parents. Homeschool parents can receive 50% off the 1 and 3 month subscription plans. Just enter the discount code: homeschooldeal when you sign up for service. That is a huge discount, and hurry - the offer is valid until March 31, 2011!

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