September 4, 2012

Top 15 tools & apps for college students

Digital tools and mobile apps take productivity to the next level

Editor’s note: With college students now back on campus, we thought this would be a good time to update our past articles on top tools and mobile apps for fall 2012. Thanks to Emily Sawtell and Angela Santiago of McGraw-Hill and Jessica Haswell of the Socialbrite team for their contributions to this roundup.

Target audience: Students, educators, nonprofits, writers, researchers, journalists.

The school year upon us, and we’ve rounded up some of our favorite digital tools and mobile apps to start the semester off right. With so many tools on the market to increase productivity, there are bound to be a few to make your life a bit easier.

Tell us in the comments which tools you think should be added to the list. What can’t you survive without?

Wikipanion: Who needs a textbook?

1Who needs a textbook when you have Wikipedia’s brain child, Wikipanion? This app has really high ratings – because it’s simply a great app. You can access open source content on any topic imaginable, an essential tool for any class.

Evernote: A revolution in note-taking

2This app is revolutionizing notes as we know it. Evernote is a mobile and web sync friendly, media-rich note-taking machine. The basic function of the app is note-taking with the ability to add voice, photos, location and tags as well as the option to share with friends. The most exciting feature of this app is the Evernote trunk, which is filled with all sorts of valuable tools that are sure to help you excel in the classroom.

Continue reading →

August 30, 2011

Top 10 productivity apps for college students

Photo by Ed Yourdon on Flickr

Make classwork go smoother with tools like Share Your Board, Pulse, Exam Support & Diigo

Target audience: Students, educators, nonprofits, social change organizations, mobile enthusiasts, education organizations.

Guest post by Angela Santiago
Digital Marketing Coordinator, McGraw-Hill Education

With the fall semester about to get underway, here at McGraw-Hill Education we’ve been researching some of the top digital tools for college students, in partnership with online study network GradeGuru.com. Social media has found its way onto college campuses and into the classroom, with apps to help with everything from optimizing student studying and time management to locating interesting activities for students to do once they get to campus.

Here is our Top Ten Student Tools List for fall 2011:

1Share Your Board: Use this app to take a picture of the classroom whiteboard, make it into a readable PDF, add your own notes and send to friends.

2StudyTracker Pro (soon to be released): Since your GPA headlines your resume, it’s important to track your progress. Use StudyTracker Pro to help you manage study hours, exam and assignment grades, and judge how effective your study habits are.

3Foursquare for Universities: Connect with students, alumni, and staff, find new and interesting things to do, and earn rewards for exploring your campus and nearby areas.

4Pulse: Use this news reader app to stay informed and up to date by creating different pages based on your interests.

5Exam Support: Use this to focus, improve concentration, and beat back the rising tides of test anxiety through its “guided audio meditation.” Continue reading →

August 27, 2010

Top 10 mobile apps for college students

Evernote, Wikipanion & GoDocs should be in your arsenal

Target audience: Students, educators, nonprofits, social change organizations, mobile diehards.

By Jessica Haswell
Socialbrite staff

School just got easier with this collection of the top 10 apps that you can’t hit the classrooms without. Having recently left the classroom (Cornell 2010 — woot!), these are some tools that I definitely wish I had. Add them to the list of Top 10 Student Tools for Fall that we ran last month.

Evernote: A revolution in note-taking

1This app is revolutionizing notes as we know it. Evernote is a mobile and web sync friendly, media-rich note-taking machine. The basic function of the app is note-taking with the ability to add voice, photos, location and tags as well as the option to share with friends. The most exciting feature of this app is the Evernote trunk, which is filled with all sorts of valuable tools that are sure to help you excel in the classroom. Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm Pre.

Wikipanion: Who needs a textbook?

2Who needs a textbook when you have Wikipedia’s brain child, Wikipanion? This app has really high ratings – because it’s simply a great app. You can access open source content on any topic imaginable, an essential tool for any class. Platform: iPhone.

GoDocs: Essential for your Google docs

3View, download and send your Google docs from your iPhone or iPad with this $3.99 app. Google docs are the go-to collaboration tool for students, and GoDocs will make collaboration even easier. The only thing it doesn’t do is let you edit docs. Platforms: iPhone, iPad.

Cliqset: Consolidate your stream

4Sharing, discovering and discussing on mobile and the Web just got easier: Follow your streams on Facebook, Twitter, Buzz — 70 social networks all told — in one place with Cliqset. This app is sure to help students simplify their lives and help professors keep students engaged. Platform: iPhone.

MyHomework: Digital planner in your palm

5Make sure you hand in all of the assignments on time – download this app. MyHomework makes it easy to keep track of, and color code all of your homework, classes, projects and tests. The app will also notify you when you have late and upcoming assignments by numbering them on your application icon. Buh-bye, paper planner. Platform: iPhone.

Rate My Profs: Students strike back

6The website has been around for a while — more than 10 million comments about 1 million profs — and now there is a free app available for this. Gotta admit, I love it. Rate My Professor was my bible for finding some of my favorite classes at school and avoiding some of the worst. Democracy run amok? Who cares! Platform: iPhone.

Kindle: Save money on textbooks

7Digital textbooks are for sure the way to save. With over 6,000 textbooks available for the Web, mobile and tablets, Amazon’s Kindle will save you about $60 on your average textbook purchase. Multiply that by the amount of textbooks you buy in one semester — that’s a lot of extra spending money. Platforms: iPhone, iPad. Continue reading →