Apps today help you organize your time, learn languages, memorize dates, set notifications that remind you to buy college paper, finish the project, take the book you promised your friend and more. We’ve selected some of the most useful apps for students, both educational and for scheduling tasks.
Languages – Duolingo
Duolingo is one of the best known and best loved language learning applications available today. Only in the Google online store Duolingo has more than a hundred million downloads. In 2013, Apple selected Duolingo as the iPhone app of the year. That was the first time the award was given to an educational app.
In Duolingo language lessons are divided into groups by topic and level of difficulty, and as a system of rewards are given “diamonds” – they are spent when you make mistakes in the exercises. To make learning the language more fun, the student is accompanied by a funny green bird. The learning system is based on the repetition of different words and expressions, sometimes you have to write the word and sometimes you have to pronounce it. It takes no more than 5-10 minutes to complete one lesson. This gives the desired effect: a person is not too tired, does not lose motivation and is ready to study every day.
Minus: the free version of the application is less convenient to study. Also, as in any application, in Duolingo it is difficult to train speaking. However, for the daily practice of language knowledge this program is a great option.
Math – PhotoMath
Probably the most popular math app today, designed for hobbyists. PhotoMath uses a camera and optical character recognition technology to read user-written equations and provide answers. In addition, the app explains the solution algorithm step-by-step, allowing you to learn how to solve the examples yourself.
PhotoMath is great for first-year engineering and science students who have a lot of problems to solve. The app will also appeal to those who are just interested in mathematics or want to train their brains a bit.
Minus: step-by-step solution explanations are only available in the paid version of the application.
Planner – Any.do
Clear planning is the key to success not only at work, but also at school or college. It is widely used by managers, freelancers, writers from the best writing services and others who have a lot of different tasks to do. Any.do is a classic organizer with a minimalist design that is very easy to use. You can plan your week and sort things by importance with colorful “stickers”. Routine tasks like cleaning, meetings or lessons can be selected from ready-made templates. You can create personal lists, like a shopping list. Alerts about upcoming deadlines come to the user on WhatsApp.
Minus: it takes a little patience to understand the application and start using it to the maximum.
Lectures on Everything – TED
Scientific lectures, fascinating life stories, motivational speeches – the speakers of the American TED Foundation, leading experts in various fields, are united by the quality of their speeches and their talent for storytelling. Lectures rarely last more than half an hour, so you can listen to them even during your lunch break.
TED materials are available online and on YouTube, as well as in the mobile app, where they are available for free download and listening.
Some short lectures on YouTube are subtitled. This is handy if you forget your headphones and can’t turn the recording on in transport.
Minus: If English is not your native language you might face this problem. Most TED experts talk in English, but the app also has subtitles in other languages.
Retake school subjects – Khan Academy
Another general education app is Khan Academy. It was created by Harvard and MIT graduate Salman Khan. Initially, it was a website that published lectures and works by various scientists in English. The mobile app features videos that explain school subjects such as chemistry, mathematics, history, and other subjects in an easy-to-understand form. In total, Khan Academy has more than 4,200 materials.
The difference from TED is that the lectures do not focus on the personality of the teacher. The videos explain scientific issues, and the viewer does not see the lecturer in front of him, but an electronic board with drawings. Khan Academy has “video lessons” on all subjects studied in school. The materials have different levels of difficulty, will be understandable to preschoolers and high school students, and are interesting for adults.
Minus: most of the lectures are only in English, the creators of the app are working on translating them into other world languages.
Take an online course – Coursera
Coursera is a mass education app developed by Stanford computer science professors.
This online project collaborates with various universities, which publish and teach courses in various fields in the app system. Learning is based on the classic university system: you have to take tests and exams, and you can communicate with fellow students on the site. In 2017, more than 4,300 courses in 430 fields from 150 universities worldwide were registered on Coursera.
Coursera offers additional training in physics, art, medicine, biology, computer science, economics, business, and many other disciplines. Each course is approximately six to ten weeks in length. The student must not only listen to a couple of hours of video lectures a week, but also complete assignments. At the end of the course, students take an exam or complete a final project on their own. Graduates receive a certificate.
The application is completely free. The peculiarity of Coursera is the emphasis on practical application of knowledge; all of the courses presented include not only “dry” theory, but also applied information that increases a student’s professionalism in a particular field.
Minus: successful learning requires self-discipline and motivation.
These apps will make your college life easier and much more fun. We are sure once you start using them, you won’t stop doing it even after graduating.
