College, a doorway to the professional world; a make or break place for some which lays the foundation for your life ahead. A confident showing in your 3 or 4 years of college heeds you in good stead for the future and prepares you for the pangs and toils you will face in the future.
It is normal for students to struggle with the workload in college; however with the advent of this frantic digital world, studying in college has never been easier. Capturing on the screen addiction of our generation, several study apps have entered the market each aiding you in your quest for good grades come the end of the year.
So, here is the list of top 10 study apps currently breathing in the market tailor made for college students:
- Evernote and Penultimate: Evernote is the premier note taking app and it comes equipped with features such as bookmarking, clipping, customization, etc. It can also double up as your to-do list. In 2014, Evernote added a new weapon of text chat with fellow Evernote users in its arsenal of features. It is a multi-platform app, compatible with both desktops and mobile phones. It provides web browser plug-ins/add-ons and a plethora of features free of cost. Its iPad version has been bolstered by the Evernote Peek which enables you to do quizzing as well.
- XMind: It is one of the most unique study apps as it is based on the concept of “mind mapping” which puts focus on the radial thinking aspect of your brain. It is a highly robust and comprehensive platform for note taking and research. It also comes with a cloud storage facility but you can only avail this once you have paid the subscription fees. The only chink in its armour is the fact that it is not mobile compatible.
- MyScript Smart Note: It is a blessing for those students who prefer to take down notes while studying in a dorm room or library. It is hands down the most accurate hand writing recognition app in the market. It is available for free for both Android and iOS platforms. albeit with some limitations. The Android version also comes with an additional feature of converting your hand written transcript into its digital equivalent. Some of its unique features include a drawing mode, annotations, palm rest feature, etc. It also provides user with the option of inserting media such as images and PDF files from cloud storage services such as Dropbox.
- VidMate: VidMate is one of the best apps available in the market that enables the user to download any multimedia file be it a video or an audio file, from any multimedia platform such as YouTube, Vimeo, Metacafe, etc. Ergo, online tutorials and educational videos are just a click away now. All the downloaded videos get stored in the virtual library sorted by the date of its download. Vidmate gives you the option of customizing the interface by adding the icon of your preferred multimedia site on the main page. Its user experience will leave you captivated.
- Todoist: Todoist is the premier to-do list app available in the market today. It helps in dividing projects into sub projects and tasks into sub tasks with great efficiency. It can well be used as a tracker for assignments and an alarm for assignments’ approaching deadline. It is available for mobile as well as desktop. Paid version of Todoist comes equipped with unlimited projects and features.
- Quizlet: Quizlet is the perfect example of gamification of studies. It uses millions of flashcard sets covering a plethora of topics, each created by student users. If you are unable to find the subject you are looking for in the existing deck, you have the option of creating your own set. It allows you to use images and audio in your flashcards to make them more interesting.
- Dragon Dictation: There are times when the students are tired of typing and still find themselves a long way off completion. This is where Dragon Dictation enters the fray. It converts everything you say into words. Just talk to the app and it will create a digital transcript which can then be copied into different files, emails or simply saved for later use. It is worth noting that this app is available on the iOS platform only.
- Google Drive: One of the simplest and most widely used apps is the Google Drive app. It enables the user to maintain notes, create presentations, excel spread sheets and a lot more in a seamless manner. Google Drive gives each account dedicated cloud storage large enough for an average student. You can always pay for more if you want to.
- Coursera: Coursera is an educational app which has tie-ups with many elite colleges in the US, including the Ivy League schools. These schools provide the users with both curriculum related study materials and MOOC’S (Massive Open Online Courses). Coursera allows you to broaden your knowledge set and helps you prepare for a subject well in advance. It offers the users a broad range of courses and study material to understand new subjects and also supplement your existing knowledge.
- Exam Vocabulary Builder: AccelaStudy has over 6 million happy users who have benefited from their ‘Exam Vocabulary’ builder app to improve their English vocabulary. It helps in freshmen college exams, professional advancements and improvement in language skills. The app makes use of “spaced retention” for retention of a word. The app consists of several modes for learning such as Flashcard and Quiz.
This list of 10 great study apps is by no means exhaustive, but the entrants in the list have definitely set a benchmark across parameters such as usability, gamification, interface and design. In today’s digital world, hundreds of apps are mushrooming by the day, each claiming to have its own USP.
