Smartwatches on the help of students in the learning process

In this article, we will explain what a smartwatch is, how it differs from an ordinary watch, what functions simplifying students' life it can perform.

In short, a smartwatch is not only a stylish accessory but also an electronic personal assistant, an indispensable tool worn on a wrist. It can help you reduce the number of unnecessary movements. You will not have to take a smartphone out of your pocket to see who is calling you or who has sent a message on Facebook while driving or traveling in a subway car. With this gadget, you will not miss an important call or reminder, can switch a music track on a smartphone, and these are far not all advantages of smartwatches.

What smartwatches can do?

It is worth noting that functions may vary significantly depending on a model. The experts from Pro-Papers made a study of this question and are ready to present the main features of these devices:

• Time and date. This item is quite obvious. In the end, we are talking about a watch.
• Notifications on calls and messages. As we wrote above, you can see who is calling you on a screen or read a message without taking a phone out of your pocket. This is very convenient if you are sitting at a lecture and do not want to attract a professor's attention, make one think that you are disrespectful to a subject.
• Some models of smartwatches support eSIM or have their own SIM-card slot. A watch turns into a wrist smartphone. It does not depend on a phone at all. You can make and receive calls directly from a watch using a built-in speaker and a microphone. This function is very helpful for students traveling in public transport in rush hour. It is very inconvenient to pick up a phone when hands are full and there are many people around.
• Reminder about scheduled events. You will easily control all your lectures, seminars, exams, and miss no important conference.
• Weather forecasts, sports scores, dollar rate information, etc. You can read about all these interesting things during breaks between lectures.
• Calendar, calculator, alarm clock, timer, and stopwatch.
• Physical activity tracker. Many smartwatches can perform functions of a fitness tracker, at least calculate steps, distance and amount of calories spent during a workout. Some devices are also equipped with a heart rate sensor and able to determine the beginning and the end of jogging automatically. More advanced models can even compile a workout plan based on your body's performance. If you participate in a university sports team, such an electronic device will help you always stay fit.
• GPS. If this function is not present in a smartwatch itself, data on your location and speed will be taken from a smartphone. It is possible to view a map directly on a wrist gadget with a built-in GPS module. If you are going to study in a new city or a country, a smartwatch will not let you get lost in unfamiliar territory.
• Voice assistant. Everything is just as in a smartphone. Say "Okay Google" or tap on a screen and utter a certain command, for example, "do my assignment". Not everyone feels comfortable when talking to one's watches, but this is a very convenient and useful feature.
• Additional applications and interfaces. Everything also works like a smartphone. You can download electronic dictionaries and encyclopedias, useful educational programs from an application store thus maximally adapting a gadget for your needs and preferences.
• Audio player management. It will be much more pleasant and easier to listen to audiobooks and tutorials. You can change a track, increase or decrease a volume, skip forward or backward without touching a smartphone. There are also models with their own built-in player and memory for storing audio.
• Camera control. This feature allows taking photos by pressing a button or simply rotating a watch. That is, you can install a phone or a tablet on a stand, step aside and press the button on a watch to photograph yourself. Some models have their own camera, which is useful for photographing groupmates' notes, pages from textbooks, schedules, announcements hanging on university walls.
• Two-way search. We are sure that it took a long time for many people to find a phone that had fallen under a sofa. Everything is much simpler with this function. A watch sends a signal, and if a smartphone is nearby, it will definitely make a sound, and you will find it.
• Anti-loss. Having set up this function, you will never forget your phone in a lecture hall, a cinema or a restaurant. It is enough to step aside from a phone for a certain distance, and a watch will begin to vibrate.

These are only the main features of a smartwatch. Manufacturers work to improve such devices, and functionality is constantly expanding.

What smartphones are necessary for smartwatches?

When choosing a smartwatch, you should pay attention to suitable operating systems. For example, not many models are compatible with Windows Phone. New iPhones are needed for Apple Watch. The bulk of wrist gadgets can work with Android, starting with version 4.4. They are also compatible with iOS-based smartphones, but sometimes with limited functionality.

Can smartwatch work without a smartphone?

As is clear from the above, the main functions of a smartwatch can be demonstrated when used in a pair with a smartphone. But some models have their own Android operating system and even a SIM card slot, GPS, microphone, speaker, and a camera. Therefore, it is a kind of miniature smartphone with a small screen but the same features.

What is the difference between a smartwatch and a fitness tracker?

Surely you have noticed that not only smartwatches but also fitness trackers are on sale, and they are usually cheaper. Outwardly, they can be very similar to a watch, but these devices perform much fewer functions. Their main purpose is to analyze the body's performance during workouts. Smart features are usually limited to notifications, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, controlling a smartphone camera and a player. Plus, a fitness tracker’s screen is significantly smaller than a smartwatch's screen.

How often does one need to charge a smartwatch?

One of the main problems of smartwatches is short battery life. This is due to the fact that applications are not optimized to save battery power, and dimensions of a gadget do not allow putting a high-capacity battery in it. Therefore, in most cases, battery life is limited to one or two days, with rare exceptions when a device can work 4-5 days.