How Apps Can Make Students’ Lives Easier

Mike Togle
October 3, 2017

Most students have gone back to school, even those universities and schools that shifted to the international school calendar. Besides shopping for school supplies and other essentials, students have to start organizing their schedules and managing other school activities while making sure they have time for their hobbies and social life. With so much to do and so little time, students could definitely use some help.

Lucky for today’s students, there’s an app for almost everything, making their good friend — the smartphone, an even better one. There are hundreds of apps that could help them manage their busy schedules, assist with studying and homework, and aid with simple tasks.

And since most students are on a budget, here are some free apps that they can use to help them get through school in a breeze:

My Study Life
by My Study Life, Ltd.
Apple App Store Rating: 4.5, Google Play Store Rating: 4.3

One of the most difficult tasks of being a student is managing their time – fitting in classes, other school activities, studying for tests and quizzes, homework and social life in one day. With My Study Life, students can view their class schedules, see which exams conflict with their classes, and be reminded when their homework is due. Students can also add reminders, revisions tasks, and store their exams.

The app is also available on Windows and via browsers. Since the app stores information in the cloud, students can access it in any device, wherever and whenever.

Alarmy (Sleep if U Can)
by Delight Room Co., Ltd.
Apple App Store Rating: 5, Google Play Store Rating: 4.7

For some students, a more difficult task than managing their time is waking up in the morning. After a late night of cramming (or partying), a simple alarm clock might not be enough to wake them. Students can now download Alarmy (Sleep If U Can), an annoying alarm clock app that will only switch off after the user completes certain tasks like  shaking the phone a number of times, answering a math question, or taking a photo of something specific. A nightmare for snoozers and ‘5 more minutes’ people, but a boon for those who really need to wake up when they have to.

Students will also be able to view their sleeping history and be provided with the weather update to let them know if it’s going to be a warm or rainy day.

Quizlet
by Quizlet LLC
Apple App Store Rating: 4.5, Google Play Store Rating: 4.5

During midterms, finals, or any other exam day, some students create reviewers or notecards to study. Instead of allotting time to create notecards, students can download Quizlet, a study tool where they can find millions of flashcards created by Quizlet users on numerous topics. They can also make their own set of flashcards in case the topic they’re looking for is not on the list or they just want to create a personal set. They can also use images and audio in their flashcard sets. The feature “Quizlet Learn” creates an adaptive plan that charts the student’s progress upon providing a study set and deadline for learning the topic.

Other than flashcards, students can be quizzed with true or false, multiple choice, and written types of questions on topics such as vocabulary, biology, chemistry, etc. From middle school to college students and even foreign language learners can benefit from this app.

Photomath
by Photomath, Inc.
Apple App Store Rating: 4.5, Google Play Store Rating: 4.5

Most people, especially students, dislike Mathematics. It frustrates them seeing numbers, more so combining those numbers with letters. Luckily for math haters, there’s an app called Photomath which allows students to point their camera to a math problem and then they will be provided with the answer and the step-by-step solution. The app supports arithmetics, integers, fractions, decimal numbers, roots, algebraic expressions, linear equations, quadratic equations, absolute equations, systems of equations, logarithms, trigonometry, exponential and logarithmic functions, derivatives, and integrals.

The app also recognizes handwritten problems, so students shouldn’t let the frustration make them write illegibly. But if the app couldn’t read the equation correctly, students can edit the equation with the smart calculator.

EasyBib
by Imagine Easy Solutions
Apple App Store Rating: 3.5, Google Play Store Rating: 3.5

After writing an essay or research paper, seeing the list of citations to convert to the right format will make any student wring their hair out of frustration. Creating bibliographies is a tedious process, but it can now be easier with EasyBib. Student can scan the book’s barcode or use the search function for a source they need to cite. Students can also choose or switch from more than 7,000 citation styles with one click. With over ten years of citation experience, EasyBib provides a reliable and accurate way to write a bibliography.

Office Lens
by Microsoft Corporation
Apple App Store Rating: 5, Google Play Store Rating: 4.6

Other than handwriting and typing on a computer, there is a new way of note taking – taking photos. Most students take photos of the whiteboard or blackboard to be able to listen to the lecture properly instead of writing frantically after the professor. There is an app called Office Lens which takes photos of documents, whiteboards, blackboards, receipts, magazines, etc., which students can convert to editable, shareable text they can add annotations to. Students can also search for words in the images since the app can recognize printed and handwritten text.

Sometimes, student are seated on the side of a classroom. When taking pictures in an angle, the app enhances the photo by cleaning up the glare and shadows. There’s no need to stand up and go to the center to take a photo. Students can also save their images in PDF, Word, or Powerpoint format.

SHAREit
by SHAREit Technologies Co. Ltd.
Apple App Store Rating: 5, Google Play Store Rating: 4.6

Most students need to transfer files for exchanging digitized reviewers, notes, or mock exams. They also need it for group projects to share files and other documents with group mates or to just transfer files from their computer to their phone or vice versa.  If there’s no mobile data or Wi-Fi, students can now transfer photos, videos, audios, and files of any format with SHAREit. Students can transfer files in its original quality in a matter of seconds in different platforms. It transfers 200 times faster than Bluetooth, giving students some extra time for their other engagements.

Technology and Education

Technology has made almost everything about being a student easier. There are already numerous apps to aid with time management, studying, homework, referencing, other student activities, and surely more innovative student apps to come.

And with the advancement of technology, even others who can’t go to school but want to learn can still do so. These student apps are not only for students but for anyone who is willing to learn. There are plenty of learning apps or platforms that anyone with a smartphone or network connectivity can use. Pointwest’s Mento, an enterprise learning and development solution, is such a web-based system where users can access different courses and training programs provided by an educational institution. It can be accessed via desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Users can also track their learning progress with assessments that they can take online and view their assessment scores. Their grades are updated as they make progress too. After going through training programs, institutions can opt to award users with  certifications based on their assessment scores, and they can all be seen from Mento.

Not only for students, there are hundreds of apps for other activities and services as well. Hopefully, these new technologies will allow people to focus more on cognitive tasks; letting technology handle the simpler, repetitive tasks.

“More than the technology, more than the business, Digital Transformation is about making the lives of people better.” Sherwin Pelayo, Pointwest Digital Capability Head

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