The world has somewhat moved on from the days of pencil and paper, and slowly but surely, schools have started making allowances for technology such as mobile phones in class. However, technology has been around for a while. Calculators, computers, overhead projectors… they have seen many through their school years- however, it is now not uncommon to find students with their own laptops and tablets, researching information online rather than from books in the library, and using apps to help assist learning for example.
Whether you are young and in the thick of learning, wanting to know a little more about what is available to help you, or you are a mature student learning the ropes again, this piece can give you some indication as to what tech is available to support your studies.
Online Research
One of the greatest aspects of having technology at your fingertips is the information you can get hold of. Students were once limited to journals and papers in books that they could find and afford. Now, you can get access to journals all over the world for your work. Not only can this help you find more evidence to support your theories and arguments, but it could also give you more insight into your topic and help you consider elements that you might not have thought about.
You will more than likely want to research colleges before you put in your application, so use a college acceptance calculator to see what you need to achieve for your chosen courses!
Top Tip: If you need a paper that is blocked behind a paywall, email the author directly! They are usually more than happy to send over their paper for free and answer any questions you might have.
Get the App
Apps have come on leaps and bounds over the years – to the point where there is almost an app for everything. This can help with a number of academic interests and needs in ways that the previous generation had to do without, or at least couldn’t access as easily. For example, if you are looking at doing a language course, apps such as Duolingo are free and create learning courses in bitesize manageable chunks. If you are someone that struggles to focus or needs to be more disciplined with time, there are numerous timer and focus techniques on apps, and programs that can help you lock certain elements of your phone that you shouldn’t be using during your focus period.
For more practical help, note apps are brilliant for when you need to convert handwriting into text, or a reader app to allow you to read specific texts on the go.
Online Courses
The beauty of online courses is that you can do them from wherever you are, which can sometimes be the very difference between someone being able to do a course or not. Many are free or low cost, and you can find some that will give you the qualification you need too – just make sure they are legit!
