Most of today’s college students own some kind of smartphone device. However, it seems most of them aren’t aware of how to exactly utilize this device for school purposes. So I’m here to share with all of my smartphone-user readers exactly what your smartphone can do and how you can utilize it for school. Fair warning — not all the apps I list will be available on every operating system; however, there is a comparable version of the app available. Some may not be free, either, but sometimes the cost is well worth the reward.
The first and foremost app that all students who utilize a laptop in order to take notes in class should get is OneNote. OneNote allows you to sync all your notes on a cloud. This enables you to have access to your notes through your app anywhere you go. If you are standing in line waiting for the shuttle, instead of pulling your notes out of your backpack, you have them handy and ready to be viewed on your phone.
You can also take pictures with your phone and insert them into your notes through your phone’s app. Another nifty ability of OneNote is that you are able to share your notes with anyone digitally. This makes getting notes from a friend in class a lot easier, without having to decipher their handwriting. OneNote is available with Microsoft Office Suite. You may have had it on your computer all along and did not realize it. OneNote is available on all Android, iPhone and Windows devices.
Another must-have app for a student who has multiple reading assignments in various classes is the Audible.com app. Although you may have to subscribe to it for some of the books, sometimes being able to listen to the book through your headphones while you’re walking from class to class may just be the extra help you need to keep yourself from drowning in reading assignments. I know it helped me ace my reading quizzes for “American Prometheus” in my Physics 1010 class every time. If you have an AV jack in your car, you can listen to it on your ride to and from campus. Audible.com is available on Android, iPhone and Windows phones.
MyHomework is a good way to keep track of all your assignments. As students, we can be overloaded and bogged down by so many things on a to-do list that we forgot that five-page English paper, and we have to come up with some excuse to tell our professor in order to be given until the end of the day to turn it in. MyHomework helps you keep track of assignments coming up. I simply input all the assignments on the syllabus calendar into myHomework at the beginning of every semester. As you check off your assignments, you can keep track of the grade you received on the assignment. MyHomework is available on Android and iPhone devices. For Windows phones, Study Planner is comparable.
Quizlet can be a useful tool to help you study, and can be used through your computer’s browser as well. Instead of taking a large amount of time just making index cards to help you study, you can use already-created cards to study with on your phone. Search your subject, and there is a list of flash cards available. This is a very good app to have for science courses where knowing He is for Helium, not just a pronoun, is a vital part of you grade. If you use your browser, games are available online to help break the monotony of studying. Quizlet is available on all devices; however, on the Windows phone it is under Quiz Cards, but utilizes Quizlet.com as well.
Canvas by Instructure may also be a useful app to download so you can keep track of your classes, grades and discussions on your iPhone and Android devices. You can also set up Canvas to send notices to your email. If you have your email linked to your phone, you can be kept in the loop whenever a new grade is posted. Also, most professors put their syllabus on Canvas, which is right at your fingertips.
There are many useful apps out there, most of them tried and true with reviews from fellow students such as yourself. You pay a good amount every month for your smartphone, so you may as well utilize it to further your academic success.
