Being an online student likely means you’ll probably be studying anywhere but on campus–wherever you can, when you can. This means lots of distractions, especially at home, so having some handy study aids of the software kind can be a great help in the learning process. We’ve compiled a list of 15 study apps that are most useful for online students. Of course, there are a lot of great (and not so great) apps suitable for students, and a lot of lists like this one to guide your selection. This list focuses on relatively new study apps that run at least on the Apple iOS mobile platform (iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad), and possibly on Android devices and/or in Web browsers.
NOTE: Most of the apps to help you study that are listed here were free at time of writing, except where stated, but are subject to change.
The NEW OneTouch MAC Study Bible program expands the user’s ability to study and search on their desktop an beyond! The program is resident on your desktop and does not require wifi/internet to operate the program; and when you are connected, there are many additional benefits! In researching the best free apps for the Mac, I started by using Apple's category list. This makes it easier to cover the wide variety of content available. If an app is on the Mac App Store, it is in one of the 21 categories that Apple has listed.
15. GTD-Q
Procrastination is a productivity killer, and discipline is particularly import to online students, who may be studying at home, where there are potentially distractions and obligations. If you find yourself persistently procrastinating or otherwise not completing study tasks and the Unstuck app (#14) does not do it for you, it might be time to pull out heavyweight help: an app and methodology with which to complete tasks. GTD-Q applies David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” concept to help you find the discipline to plan, start and complete tasks. The free GTD-Q iOS app works on both iPhone and iPad.
14. Unstuck
As mentioned above, discipline is key to the success of online students. While having a flexible schedule may make it feel as if online study is easier, the opposite is true. As online students are often people who have other obligations, it’s quite possible to get caught between what you want to be doing and what you should be doing, causing you to waste time or experience a mental block. When you’re having a learning block, the Unstuck app can help you out of it.
The app lets you explore how you are currently feeling, then choose some option cards to decide how to get out of whatever state of mind you are in – be it conflicted, indecisive, overwhelmed, stumped, unmotivated or one of the several other choices. While this is not a study app per se, it’s valuable in that if you are procrastinating about studying, it’s probably because you are “stuck” about something, from which the app can help you escape. Unstuck is available for Web, Android and iOS, with the latter having different versions for iPhone and iPad. Details on the site.
13. Chegg Textbooks, eTextbooks
Online students are more likely than not to have study materials available online. However, that does not entirely eliminate the need for physical textbooks. If you need them and cannot or do not want to make a trip to campus, the Chegg app might be for you. Chegg ships printed books, and while you wait for arrival, you can use their mobile app. It provides eTextbooks, free weekly guided solutions (from over 2.5M paid solutions available), and free digital access to books for seven days while physical book ships. The Chegg app is available for both iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android. Of course, when you’re done with your books, sell them with the free Cash4Books iPhone app.
12. Scanner Mini / Pro by Readdle
Even online students occasionally have need to scan documents, whether a few pages of a magazine or a book, a classmate’s handwritten notes or what have you. Going to campus is probably something you do very rarely, let alone get to the college library, only to find a long line for the photocopier. Avoid wasting your valuable study time by using Scanner Pro, which Apple featured at the start of 2014 as an “App of the Week.” Or maybe you bought a printed book or two using the Chegg app (#13) and want to scan in some text into a PDF to annotate, or scan handwritten notes for later transcription. (Of course, when scanning books, you’re only making copies for entertainment purposes, not copyright infringement purposes, right?) The Scanner Pro iOS app is $2.99, while the Scanner Mini app is free and can be upgraded to Scanner Pro. Both apps allow you to scan printed matter into PDF files, and share via email, Dropbox, Evernote (#1), and Google Drive, as well as fax and AirPrint. Enable the WiFi Access in either app to allow another computer on the same network to access scanned documents via a Web browser.
11. Grid
Grid by Binary Thumb changes the cloud-based spreadsheet game by ditching the formulas and allowing you to add not just text and numeric values but images as well — and from a mobile device. You can organize your content in whatever layout suits you best. Grid is great for prototyping a term paper that has visual elements, structuring your study tasks, or organizing personal events. Pull in your contacts and also collaborate with colleagues. The included sample layouts will get you started. The Grid iOS app runs on both iPhone and iPad.
10. Dragon Dictation
Need to take some notes for a course but don’t have too many hands free? Voice recognition software Dragon Dictation has been around for several years, but the mobile apps from Nuance are relatively new. Since being an online student might mean juggling other responsibilities (such as a family, a job, etc.), time is often at a premium. Dragon Dictation not only saves you time by allowing you to recite your notes, but you could potentially do other small tasks simultaneously, if you’re at home, while dictating (preparing lunch, washing dishes, putting stuff away, doing the laundry, folding clothes, etc.). The Dragon Dictation iOS app runs on both iPhone and iPad.
9. Spritz
Got a lot of reading to do? Being an online student doesn’t mean you get away from reading, so of course you probably have lots to read. You’re just more likely to have to read online — something that some people find harder than reading print. Concentrating on text displayed on a vertical screen can also give you neck cramps, which can result in eye strain and fatigue. Spritz helps you to learn to read digital text faster — so if you don’t absorb everything the first time, a second read of study material isn’t such a big outlay of time.
Options for using Spritz include a browser bookmarklet and iOS, Android and Windows mobile applications. The mobile apps are actually from third parties, and should say “Powered by Spritz.” Some Web sites also integrate Spritz technology. See the Get Spritz! Web page for examples. The screen snap above is from the free Rush ReaderiOS app (iPhone and iPad), which lets you type in an URL and read the Web page. Rush Reader lets you connect to your Pocket account and read saved content faster.
8. Note by Swiftkey
Note by Swiftkey lets you take notes and add them to your Evernote (#1) notebooks. The app can learn your writing style from Facebook and Gmail accounts, and sync the learning across devices. Perfect for when you need to take some casual notes at odd notes or more detailed notes during study sessions. Want take notes faster? Pair Note up with Swiftkey’s iOS 8 keyboard extension to get the rapid typing features it’s known for on the Android mobile device platform. The Note iOS app runs on both iPhone and iPad.
7. instaGrok
Need more organization than an app like Todoist (#2) provides? The instaGrok app might be what you need, with its concept maps and educational “(re)search engine”. Organize research notes into concept maps (similar to mind maps), save key facts, videos, journals and more. The word “grok” was coined by science fiction novelist Robert Heinlein in the 1960s and essentially means “to understand.” The essence of the instaGrok app is that it is an “educational search engine” that takes your entered keyword or phrase and produces a concept map (similar to a mind map) of related concepts. The app also generates a tabbed dialog box of key facts, Web sites, videos, images, and related concepts. You can listen or view available media and add your own notes. The instaGrok app is available for both iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android. It’s a free app, however there is a classroom plan for Teachers at $45/year and a 90-day free trial.
6. StudyBlue Flashcards
StudyBlue is one of the more popular study platforms. The app allows you to make your own flashcard sets and invite friends to view them, or share them on the platform, as well as download sets made by other users (some sets for purchase). Notes from the Evernote app (#1) can be imported into StudyBlue and turned into flashcards. Sign in with Google+ or Facebook, or register with an email address. The platform is available on the Web (main site), iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android. Teacher features also available.
5. IFTTT
IFTTT is brilliant in concept: chain a bunch of Web services together in a pipeline of digital info and have each “recipe” notify you (text message, email) or post on social media on your behalf (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) or save files to cloud storage (e.g., Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, etc.). There are loads of “channels” (Web services) that you can activate and then chain together into a recipe. Or browse the recipes others have published and add the ones you like to your own filter list.
Use the mobile app in tandem with the Web app, or either one as available. Your recipes are stored in the Cloud, so you can access them from anywhere with an Internet connection. For example, set up a recipe to get an alert whenever a professor posts content to, say, GitHub.com, using IFTTT and TrackIf. Or use IFTTT for reminders to yourself, for assignments, tests, or personal to-do lists. There are literally thousands of possible digital recipes (search online for IFTTT recipe lists). IFTTT is available for iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android and Web.
4. Readability
Have a lot of online reading to do? Use the Readability Web browser plugin to save URLs “for later” while you’re researching and don’t want to be distracted. Then when you’re in a comfy chair, pull out your tablet and use the Readability mobile app for reading the pages you have saved. On all platforms, Readabilty strips out all the distracting bits of a Web page and formats the main text in a more readable font type and size, with lines spaced out more legibly. One use of just the browser plugin and you will wonder how you ever read Web pages with horrible type without it. Reduce eyestrain and fatigue with the set of Readability apps and browser plugins, and speed up your reading. The Readability mobile apps are available for iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android. See the main site for browser plugins. Scientific calculator mac app.
3. Pocket
Pocket is another in the class of “save it for later” apps that help you make short work of long online reading lists. Save Web content (regular Web pages and PDFs), tag and favorite items, or share with others via email, Twitter, Facebook, Buffer, etc. Use one of the content filters to see just articles, videos or images. You can also save content for offline viewing. The Pocket app, which won a Webby Award for Best Productivity App 2014, is available for iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android and Kobo, and the Web app runs in all Web browsers. Browser plugins also available. Want to read even faster? Check out the trio of GSense/ Bobinades apps, Litz, Mocha and Punctuate, all of which use the Punctuate guided reading method. Some or all of the apps can help you reach reading speeds up to 1500 WPM (words per minute) and can sync with your Pocket account, pull in PDFs, non-DRM ePub digital books and more. The display method is similar to that of Spritz (#9), but overlays a small window over the original content, giving you the choice of reading one word at a time or a set of words at a time emphasized with a moving red underline. The Litz and Punctuate apps also gives you access to over 10,000 free ebooks.
2. Todoist
There are tons of to-do apps available but Todoist one of the more versatile of the bunch. As it also functions as a bookmarker for Web sites, it doubles as a great research tool. Even better, if you’re studying with a classmate, you can share tasks or entire projects. Use it also as a reminder for assignments.
Todoist’s free versions run on most computers and many smartphone and tablet platforms (including iOS and Android), and has plugins for a number of browsers. Tasks can be organized in four levels of projects and tasks, dragged and dropped between levels, and sport labels and recurring dates.
The free versions alone can increase your productivity, but word is that the premium versions allow for even greater productivity. For premium mode ($29/year), there are over 15 platforms in total, plus you get notes, file attachments (PDF, spreadsheets, images), mobile and email reminders, location alerts, extra projects and tasks, custom filtering, more color coding (projects and labels), project templates, calendar sync, productivity tracking, automated backups and more. Premium mode of Todoist allows for files to be imported from Dropbox and Google Drive. Desktop versions of Todoist also allow for file import from your computer. Tasks marked with a label (starts with an “@” symbol) can be used to trigger IFTTT (#5) recipe that forwards information to another app — such as evernote. Alternatives to Todoist are Any.Do and Wunderlist, which have overlapping features.
1. Evernote App SuiteBest Studying Free Apps For Mac Laptop Windows 10
Evernote offers a suite of excellent free productivity apps that include Evernote, Penultimate, Evernote Peek, Clearly and several more. This is a group of tools that are ideal for students and researching, as well as for practically anyone. Vypr vpn app mac.
Use the Clearly browser plugin similarly to the Readability (#4) browser plugins to read with a more eye-friendly font, or highlight passages on a Web page and have the clips automatically saved to Evernote, the flagship app. The Evernote app itself is far more than a to-do list app — it’s one of the best note-taking, work and life-planning/ to-do list apps available, and quite possibly one of the most highly Venture Capital-funded in its category. Use the Penultimate app to handwrite notes with a stylus and make them searchable. When it’s time to study, use Evernote Peek to focus on one question at a time from your own quizzes in a manner similar to flashcards. (Note: Evernote announced on Jan 20/15 that support for Peek would end on Feb 7/15.)
Evernote is available for multiple platforms, including Mac, Windows, Windows Phone, Web, iOS (iPhone and iPad), Android and others. It is an extremely versatile platform and can be integrated with multiple other apps, including several listed here, which increases your potential productivity even further. There are also premium features and business mode features – the latter including collaboration and chat.
No matter what your major, you’re bound to take a class that requires you to memorize large amounts of information. Whether it’s historical dates, medical terms, equations, or quotes from your professor’s favorite TV show, memorizing information can be a challenge.
To make memorization easier, people have come up with all kinds of systems and techniques. And one of the most powerful systems is flashcards.
You probably made paper flashcards in school, but the right digital apps can make flashcards an even more powerful tool. Plus, they’re a lot easier to manage than a bunch of pieces of paper.
Since the app stores and internet are flooded with flashcard apps that all claim to be the best, it can be difficult to find the app that’s right for your needs. To save you time, we tested over a dozen flashcard apps and narrowed them down to our six favorites.
Whether you’re studying for a final exam or a standardized test like the GRE, there’s an app on this list that will make your studies easier and more effective.
1. Anki
Overview: A powerful flashcard app that uses spaced repetition to make your studies more efficient and effective.
Even after testing many other flashcard apps, Anki remains my top recommendation. While some of the other apps on this list have slicker interfaces and more features, Anki remains superior for helping you learn, retain, and review information.
To use Anki, you first create a flashcard in the way you’re used to (a term on one side and a definition on the other, for example). You then organize these cards into “Decks” based on whatever information you’re trying to learn.
Once you’re ready to study, Anki will show you one side of each card. When you think you have the answer (or if you can’t remember), you flip the card over to reveal it.
After you’ve revealed the answer, Anki will ask you to rate how difficult it was for you to recall it. Based on this difficulty rating, Anki will decide when to show you the card again. This could be as soon as a few minutes from now or as long as a month.
The idea behind this is to review information only when you’re about to forget it. This way, you spend the most time studying the concepts that are difficult for you and don’t waste time reviewing information you already know.
If you’re curious to learn more about the principles that Anki is based on, check out our guide to spaced repetition.
Pricing: Free (except for the iOS app, which is $24.99)
Platforms: Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows, Web
2. Brainscape
Overview: A flashcard app that uses spaced repetition, though you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro version to add images and sounds to cards.
Brainscape seems like a fairly simple flashcard app on the surface, but it includes some advanced features that are helpful for tracking your progress and ensuring that you’ve learned information thoroughly.
To get started with Brainscape, you’ll need to create a class. This could be a real class you’re taking, or just a general subject you’re learning. Within each class, you can then create decks of flashcards on more specific topics.
Creating flashcards in Brainscape is quite easy, with each card’s question in one column and the answer in another. Be aware that the free version only allows you to add text; you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro version to add images and sounds (the Pro version starts at $9.99 per month).
After you’ve created your deck, you can start studying it. When you reveal the answer to a question, Brainscape will ask you to rate how well you knew the answer on a scale of 1 (“Not At All”) to 5 (“Perfectly”).
Based on your ratings, the app assigns you a “Mastery” score ranging from 0% to 100%, and it will continue to quiz you until you’ve reached a 100% Mastery. This is more or less the same as the spaced repetition system that Anki uses.
Pricing: Free (with a Pro version that lets you add images/sounds and study other users’ flashcard decks)
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
3. Quizlet
Overview: A simple flashcard app that emulates the experience of studying paper flashcards.
Are you looking for an app that mimics paper flashcards without a lot of added bells and whistles? Then Quizlet is a great choice.
Once you sign up, the app makes it simple to start creating cards on the topic of your choice. In addition to text, you can also add images from your computer or Quizlet’s library.
When it’s time to study your cards, Quizlet gives you a variety of options. You can “flip” the cards over to mimic studying paper cards, but you can also study the cards using games or fill-in-the-blank tests.
If you’re trying to learn how to spell words (such as with a foreign language or technical vocabulary), there’s also an option to listen to a computer-generated recording and type what you hear.
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My only criticism of Quizlet is how it suggests answers/definitions for your cards. For instance, if you type “function” on one side of a card, Quizlet will suggest definitions like “a relation in which each element of the domain is paired with exactly one element of the range.”
While this is supposed to be a helpful feature, I don’t suggest using it. To truly learn information, you need to put it into your own words and make the cards yourself. Only then will you understand what you’re learning.
Pricing: Free (with paid, pre-made flashcard decks for specific topics)
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
4. Chegg Prep
Overview: A solid flashcard app that grades you on each of your study sessions.
Chegg is our top recommendation for saving money on textbooks, so I was interested to see that they also offer a flashcard tool called Chegg Prep.
The flashcard features are fairly standard, letting you create two-sided cards with basic text formatting and the option to add images. Studying the cards is fairly similar to paper cards, with the option to flip the card over to reveal the other side.
After you flip a card, Chegg will ask you if you got the answer right (“Got it”) or if you need to review it again (“Note quite”). Based on this information, you’ll receive a score at the end of each study session, with the option to study the cards again if you want.
While the scoring system isn’t useless, it doesn’t affect how often you’ll see cards as it would in Anki or Brainscape. This isn’t a big deal if you’re studying a small amount of information, but it could be problematic if you need to memorize hundreds of terms for an exam like the MCAT or GRE.
Pricing: Free
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
5. Cram
Overview: A basic flashcard app that offers a variety of ways to study your cards, including games.
Cram is a fairly straightforward flashcard app with some interesting features for reviewing and studying your cards.
To start, you create a set of flashcards with a title of your choice. From there, you add information to the front and back of the card using text and (optionally) images.
Notably, you can also create a “Hint” side to the card if you want (which can be a useful way to emulate a real person quizzing you on the cards).
From there, you have many options for studying the cards. There’s a fairly standard flashcard mode where you flip the cards, which also lets you tell the app if you got the answer wrong or right.
Cards that you get right won’t show up in future study sessions, while cards that you get wrong will appear again. This isn’t as sophisticated as the system in Anki or Brainscape, but it’s still helpful.
Beyond the basic flashcard mode, you can also choose to study your cards using matching, multiple-choice, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank tests.
There are even two games you can use to study, “Jewels of Wisdom” and “Stellar Speller.” While interesting, I’m not sure how much learning value there is in these games (though that could just be my preference).
Pricing: Free (with a paid option that removes ads and gives you additional formatting tools)
Platforms: Android, iOS, Web
6. IDoRecall
Overview: A flashcard app that integrates with your study materials.
IDoRecall is a spaced repetition flashcard app, similar to Anki. However, it also has some important and exciting differences.
Most notably, IDoRecall is an app designed specifically for studying academic material. Instead of leaving you to create cards on your own, the app lets you upload the material you’re studying and create cards directly from it.
These cards then link back to the study material, letting you quickly refresh your memory if you can’t remember something when you’re reviewing it.
The app supports a variety of media formats, including PDFs, PowerPoints, Word Docs, images, and YouTube videos. And once you’ve created your cards, IDoRecall uses spaced repetition to ensure you only study the material you’re about to forget.
Finally, the app lets you create virtual study groups where you can share files and learning materials with classmates. This is extremely helpful if you’re studying with a group for a big exam.
Pricing: A free version is available with a limit of 200 cards and 10 MB of file storage. To get unlimited cards and file uploads, you’ll need to subscribe to the paid plan for $96 / year or $16 / month.
Platforms: Web (though the company claims that desktop apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux are in development)
Flashcards Are About Technique (Not Apps)
I hope this guide has helped you find a flashcard app to improve your studies.
But I also want to emphasize that to truly succeed with flashcards, you need to learn how to create them correctly. The best app in the world isn’t very useful if you’re not writing effective questions.
For more information on how to make and study flashcards (on paper or digitally), check out this guide.
Image Credits: file cabinet
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