Online studying will help you to prepare for examinations. Read this article to find out more about free study guides, apps and tools you can use to ace your exams.
Using resources on the internet is a great way to enhance your learning, but where are you able to find good study guides online?
We’ve done the research so that you don’t have to! Check out our list of the top free online study guides, tools and apps that will help you study more effectively.
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The Perks of Using Online Study Guides
While making summaries and studying via textbook can be very effective, many students lose concentration easily and are left feeling discouraged. It is important to make studying as fun as possible, which is why we’ve come up with some perks that come along with studying online:
- Apps and online study guides are custom-made to ensure productive learning.
- The more visual the content the better your chances are of remembering what you have learnt.
- You become more attentive while you learn online and learning becomes fun.
- You can track how much time you’ve spent studying with online study guides.
- Some apps/ programmes can test your current knowledge.
- Information is at the tip of your fingers with online study guides.
- Online study guides save you time, which means more time for studying.
- Online study guides are free!
Remember, the best way to pass your exams is to be prepared. Try out these apps and online sites, they will change your study methods forever. It’s the 21st century – let’s study accordingly.
Free Online Study Guides to Help You Study Effectively
Although there are many online study guides available online, there are a select few that have proven to be effective when used by students—especially when it comes to online studying. That’s why we’ve gathered our list of the top 5 online study guides to help you study more effectively and pass your exams.
Get Organised with Schooltraq
SchoolTraq is an amazing app that can help you to keep track of your school subjects and all the assignments and events you have due for them. For example, under a subject like History, you can schedule an assignment that you have due, such as your French Revolution essay.
All assignments on Schooltraq get stored according to the closest due date. You can tick the task when you’ve completed it and it even rates your productivity.
With SchoolTraq, you can schedule events—like a History test—on a specific date and you will receive a reminder. If you are a busy person, this app is perfect for you, as it even has a Reflex option where you can insert events or tasks in a hurry.
Use the Schooltraq app to set up a study regime by setting study goals for each subject and giving yourself a due date. For example, if you’re studying Maths, you can set your goal as “Read chapters 1-3 and test yourself online” and set the due date for the next week. Schooltraq app can be downloaded online or it can be used on your laptop or desktop computer.
Learn While You Study With Shmoop
Shmoop is an online learning platform that teaches you about any given topic you’ve selected. Besides providing you with study notes and videos, Shmoop also has tests from various syllabuses available on the website that you can use.
What’s great about Shmoop is the fact that they explain their content in simple terms and they crack a few jokes here and there to help you study your learning material even better. They also have everything you might need on one website, which saves you from having to click between tabs.
Ask Questions with WolframAlpha
WolframAlpha is a unique tool that you can use to ask questions but it also gives you statistics, data, charts and graphs that display relevant information. Not only does WolframAplha give you definitions and information but it’s also a great resource for projects and research.
With WolframAplha, you can double check facts before you study or expand on your knowledge. This platform also offers many apps, from education to personal, which all share facts at the click of a button.
Take Notes With SparkNotes
SparkNotes helps you to break up the bulk of your study load by categorising all the information in one organised space.
Not only can you choose from SparkNotes’ wide range of school subjects but you can also choose a topic or module and they will give you notes for it.
For example, under the subject of biology, SparkNotes has topics that deal with cellular structure, plant life, animal behaviour and many more. Under these topics, they become even more specific by outlining modules.
SparkNotes saves you precious time that you would’ve spent on making notes and prevents you from studying unnecessary topics. SparkNotes also has videos you can watch and learn from as well as tests you can take.
Make Studying Fun With Quizlet
Amongst other learning tools such as games and tests, Quizlet focuses on flashcards. Not only can you customise your own flashcards with pictures and audio recordings, but you can also save your various themed study sets.
Quizlet also allows you to keep your flashcards private or share them with other students. With Quizlet, you have access to study material over a broad range of topics so you don’t need to do all the work yourself as others have already made their notes and flashcard public in order to help you.
The perk of Quizlet is that you can invite fellow students to join your ‘study set’ so that all the information is shared. You can even save your flashcards to your phone.
Online Studying Tools for Projects and Assignments
Whether it’s essays, research projects or a book review, there are plenty of online studying tools that you can use to help you cope with your assignments.
Get Started With Google Docs
Google Docs is one of the most beneficial sites for students that helps them to work without any distractions. This is due to the fact that you can complete your assignment on their platform, meaning there is less chance of you switching between tabs.
Google Docs also helps you with the layout of various assignments as it offers many templates that you can choose from—think Microsoft Word except you don’t have to worry about saving your work, as everything on Google Docs saves automatically!
Reference Your Work With Cite This For me
If you are doing a project that requires referencing you can use Cite This For Me to make sure you have referenced your information in the right style.
Cite This For me has many referencing styles on its system—all you have to do is either add information for references manually or let the programme check the sources for you. You can also save your reference list and copy and paste it (as well as in-text references).
Check For Plagiarism With Turnitin
If you’re busy studying at university, then you should be very familiar with Turnitin. Turnitin is an online plagiarism checker that checks for any instances of copied work, which prevents you from getting into trouble later on.
All you have to do to use it is create an account and then submit your document through the Turnitin platform and it will run it through its systems to check if there is any plagiarised content.
Tips for Studying Online
When it comes to online studying, accessibility is both a strength and a flaw. Although we can access information online to help us study, we can also get distracted by the internet. In the end, one needs self-control to stick to the educational tabs and not to be tempted by social media.
Here are some tips to help you stay productive when studying online:
- During exam time, hide your social media bookmarks so that they aren’t the first things you see when you open Google.
- Time yourself. Your mother’s egg timer works perfectly fine and makes a loud noise that you will look forward to hearing. Don’t use your phone as a timer, you’ll just get even more distracted. In fact, put your phone on silent and in a hard-to-reach place.
- Reward yourself. Treat yourself when you meet study goals on time without getting distracted. Some positive reinforcement will help motivate you.
FundiConect 2Cents
At the end of the day, the way you study depends entirely on your study style and how you learn best. Find out what kind of learner you are and customise your apps and online sites.Â
Be sure to check the FundiConnect website for additional study advice, tips and tricks to help you ace your exams and live your best life as a student.
