With school just around the corner (two weeks, eek!), it is about the time of the year where we start making back to school resolutions. On the top of almost every student’s list is doing better in school – being a little more organized, studying more effectively, or spending less time on Facebook.
We could all use a little help in keeping our back-to-school resolutions, so I have surfed the web, and the app store, for the apps that I think will help you do better in school this year. Enjoy!
Online Notes
Ever had the moment of panic when you think you lost your paper or all your notes for a class because your computer decides to give out? I know I have. Here are two apps to help ease that fear.
Dropbox: Dropbox is a cloud based storage software which allows you to access your saved work on any device with an internet connection. You can now work on your paper from your phone on the bus, from your tablet at the library, and from your PC at home. Dropbox acts like another storage drive on your device, so it makes it super simple to save files to it. Dropbox is an absolute student essential.
Evernote: This cross-platform app is great for organizing your notes, especially if you supplement your written notes with pictures or lecture recordings. Evernote can also organize different aspects of your life – it has many additional downloadable features, such as Peek (specifically for students with iPads), Food (for visual recipe creation), Clearly (for distraction free reading), and Hello (which allows for more effective networking).
Key features include:
– Write notes & to-do lists, upload images & files and save things you find on the web
– Organize visually using the flexible drag and drop interface.
– Boards by default are a private place to think, but with a single click you can create a shared workspace for collaboration with your team
– Milanote is filled with hundreds of built-in templates to help you get started with a variety of different projects, from creating a mood board to writing that perfect creative brief.
Mindlessly clicking through Facebook albums, celebrity tweets, or tumblr cats during class? A lot of students, myself included, find themselves easily distracted during lectures – here are a few different apps or downloadable features that block out social media distractions.
Self-Control (Mac Only): Self Control allows you to block your won access to distracting websites, mail services, or anything else on the Internet. You just set the period of time you want to be blocked out, and the sites you want to blacklist, and start. This site really does become your self-control, as once the timer starts there is pretty much nothing you can do to go on a blacklisted site (including deleting the application).
Cold Turkey: Very similar to Self-Control, Cold Turkey is also available for PCs. What is great about this site is that you can schedule your blocks, meaning you could set the program to block social media sites for lecture times. It is another program that is hard to get around, keeping you on track.
Stay Focused: Stay Focused is a Chrome Extension and uses the opposite ideology as Self-Control and Cold Turkey. Rather than blocking out sites, Stay Focused gives you a limited amount of time to use on blacklisted sites. You can set your timer to only allow one hour of Facebooking a day, as an example. Warning – this tool is easier to bypass, so if you lack self-restraint, I would suggest the other options.
Study Tools:
Sometimes we just need a little help studying for that midterm or writing a paper. Here are a few apps that can boost your organization and make studying more effective.
Simple Pomodoro: This app is based on the Pomodoro Technique for productivity where you decide on a task, work on it for 25 minutes, and then take a 3-5 minute break. After a few sessions, you can take a longer break. This technique prevents fatigue and allows your brain to stay more refreshed, especially if your tasks require looking at a screen. This app will remind you when your break is up, and has a very clean looking interface.
MyHomework: So many of us buy those cute planners at the beginning of the year, with the promise of being more organized this year, but find them under our bed in a couple of weeks. This app functions as a cross-platform planner – grab this app, and in the first week of school schedule all your assignments and readings into it, then check your homework from your phone, tablet, or laptop. You will never be caught off-guard by an assignment again.
Study Blue: Study Blue is predominantly a flashcard app, but it is probably one of the better (free) ones out there. It allows you to create your own flashcards, with text, images and audio, and access them on multiple devices (currently it is iOS, Andriod, and Web compatible). There are also millions of notes and flashcards already uploaded, which is great for learning new content. It also shows you your study statistics, letting you gauge your knowledge and focus your energy on information you are less comfortable with. You can also collaborate with others on your flashcards – easy group studying!
Alma Mater Society of UBC – Last week, the AMS released its own app available on Andriod and on Apple. The app has many different functions – you can find out about events, campus services, groups and clubs, access exclusive discounts, organize your classes (and share your timetable with your friends), tour the uni, and communicate with fellow students. Make sure to give it a try!
What do you think? Have you used these apps before? What apps do you use to do better in school? Tell us in the comments or tweet us at @ubcpharmacy!
– Sukhman Perhar, Communications and Marketing
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Cold Turkey seems good, except for the fact that it doesn’t work