Technology is only becoming more popular as an educational tool and, as students of the 21st century, we’re happy with any excuse to bring our devices into the classroom. Here’s a breakdown on which educational apps you can use to optimise your technological learning experience.
“Hybrid learning” or bringing technology into classrooms/lecture halls is something that schools and universities are experimenting with all around the world. Sounds pretty cool. Before you get too excited, this is something that might take a while to become universal. In the meantime, we might as well hop on board and start using our own technology to aid our learning. Here are some of the latest (and best) educational apps for students.
Evernote
Evernote is one of the most popular note-taking apps in the whole wide world. That’s some crazy popularity right there. This app comes with loads of features that allow you to take notes, organise your timetable, set reminders and save important links. Pretty awesome! The app gives you the power to create a “note” which can be a written piece of text, a handwritten note, a section from a webpage or the actual webpage. You can also add links and file attachments to your notes and organise them in way that works for you. Evernote also offers online backup and sync services. The app has both paid and free versions. The only difference is that the free version limits the amount of storage you’re allowed to use per month.
Price: The limited version is free and the full version cost range is between R37.00 – R879.99
Supported Operating Systems: iOS, Android, Windows, BlackBerry 10
My Study Life
My Study Life is a planner designed for students, teachers and lecturers. This app allows you to store your timetable, homework and exams in the cloud.
If you not sure what this cloud thing means, it is not actually the white fluffy shapes in the sky but it is a cyber storage space. Don’t worry, it is safe. It also means that you can access your storage from all your devices whenever you need to. Yay, gone are the days of needing to print paper timetables and planners.
Price: Free
Supported Operating Systems: iOS, Android
EasyBib
Anyone who has written a research paper or report will be relieved to hear about this little app. EasyBib helps you format your list of references in whatever style you choose (they have over 7000 options). You can either type in the web address or name of the book you’re using. Another option is to just scan your book’s barcode and EasyBib will return the correctly formatted citation of your choice.
Price: Free
Supported Operating Systems: iOs, Android
WolframAlpha
If you’ve ever tried to Google the answer to a math problem, you’ve probably come across the WolframAlpha website. The good news is they also have an app. It’s not free BUT it can give you the worked answers to complicated math problems. This means you can learn from their steps and check to see that your answers are correct. Even better news: they’re not limited to maths. If you need almost any quick and easy reference, WolframAlpha is the place to go.
Price: R49.99
Supported Operating Systems: iOS, Android, Windows, Amazon
Photomath
While we’re on the topic of maths, let’s talk about Photomath. This apps lets you take a photo of a math problem and will give you the answer with a detailed breakdown of how they got to it. This app can work out anything from simple addition and subtraction to more complicated differentiation and integration. While it might have its limits, it is also a useful way to check your answers and find mistakes in your own work.
Price: Free
Supported Operating Systems: iOS, Android
Duolingo
Have you ever wanted to learn a different language but did not have the time or money to take classes? Duolingo came up with their own way to help everyone learn the languages they want to. Hello German, Italian and French. This free app allows you to learn a language at your own pace whenever you have the time. It’s no wonder they have 150 million users.
Price: Free
Supported Operating Systems: iOs, Android, Windows
Scribd
This is an online library that you can subscribe to and enter from any number of platforms. Scribd is one of the more expensive learning apps. To be fair, it’s also one of the more useful apps. They store everything from novels to textbooks and, the much sought after, solution manuals that you’ll use at all levels of your education. They have over 1 000 000 books, audiobooks, magazines and documents that you’ll have access to for a monthly subscription fee.
Price: From R179.99 per month
Supported Operating Systems: iOS, Android, Amazon
Okay, that’s a load to take in. To be honest, there are just too many wonderful apps to mention in this article. As you can see, there’s a world of resources at your fingertips. So if you want to make your procrastination slightly more productive, you might want to consider downloading one or two of these apps.
EduConnect 2Cents
Apps don’t only have to supplement your learning; they can also be your main method of learning. Have a look at apps like Coursera and GetSmarter. These apps offer full, comprehensive online courses. You may ask, ‘what type of courses?’ Well, these cover a wide variety of subjects so there’s something for everybody. I think it is safe to say that it’s time to get your tech on and allow the apps to do the teaching.
