Ten ways to study more easily using your smartphone

You may be used to using your smartphone to talk with friends, post your thoughts on social media and play internet games, but it is in fact a remarkably powerful tool that can be used to help make your college studies a success. This article will explore ten ways that you can make studying easier by using your smartphone.

Use Learning Apps

Your first port of call is to download apps that correspond to what you are studying. Whether you are studying towards a computer science masters or an art degree, look for and download apps that complement your program. These apps have been gamified in such a way that means that when you are playing, you do not even realize that you might be learning at the same time, making learning a little more fun and less of a chore.

Set Alarms and Timers

Working towards a degree is all about managing your time effectively. Whether you are a night owl or an early riser, it is essential to find a schedule that works for you and ensures that you optimize your output without feeling like you are on the verge of burnout. Here your phone can be used in a couple of ways. The first is as a simple alarm clock, waking you up at the necessary time so you can rush to the library and get a seat before everyone else. The other way is through a timer, allowing you to only work on certain projects for an allocated time, before moving on to the next one. This should be complemented with:

Time Management Apps

Managing your time can be aided by using time management apps. These can be anything from a calendar and reminder notification app (usually already installed on your phone when you buy it) to a more professional task management software. Not only can apps tell you what you should be working on, but they can also monitor your time spent on time-wasting applications and send you notifications about how to cut down on using them. Just be cautious that you do not spend more time on the time management app than actually working on your studies.

Call Friends and Family for Professional and Emotional Help

A lot of people have forgotten the primary function of a phone as they have become far more sophisticated than even the best computer in the late 90s: to call people. Remarkably you can still use your phone for this simple function. Call your friends and family for both professional advice and to lean on them for emotional support. Additionally, if you have the phone number of your professor, you can always arrange a call with them to go through your studying obligations.

Google Answers to Homework Questions

The internet is a fantastic studying tool. For whatever problem you have, there is a strong likelihood that someone has provided the answer online. All you have to do is Google it. Additionally, you will be able to log onto resources that provide student papers that should align exactly with what you want to study. Ask your university for a list of resources that they have which you can use to make your studying experience a far smoother one. Then once you have the right materials, you can consider:

Reading or Listening to Course Material

Thanks to their increased size and legibility, it is easier than ever to read on your phone. There are specific apps that can download e-books to your phone and you can read them while on the go! If reading gets to be too much for you, why not consider simply listening to the material instead? This way you can combine studying with a long walk or playing a game online, making it a truly active learning experience. You do not have to necessarily download or buy an audio book, but can translate existing text into an audio file to make it much easier for you – perfect if you are an auditory learner.

Recording Lectures

Morning lectures are not often the best place to ingest large quantities of information. It has been scientifically proven that for some people, the mornings (especially after an all-nighter) are not a time to learn. That is why you should use a dictaphone app on your phone that allows you to record the lecture and listen to it in your own time. This is also a very smart move when it comes to gathering study materials that you can consult later on for your finals.

Listening To Podcasts and Watching Videos

The podcast boom that has occurred over the past few years or so means that no matter what topic you study, there has probably been a podcast on it. Check with third party podcast apps to see if they have a podcast that coincides with your topic. Additionally, there are videos available on YouTube that will cover everything that you want to possibly know about your subject, ranging from recorded lectures all the way to handy infographics. All these can be streamed directly through your mobile device!

Use as a Secondary Screen

If you find that your laptop or computer screen is too small to manage multiple tasks at once, then why not use your smartphone as a secondary screen? By doing so, you will be able to both stream a video and take notes on it at the same time or watch a lecture virtually while coordinating work with other members of your team. Allow both screens to work in harmony, you can even share pages across devices thanks to the amazing power of cloud technology.

Group Work Over Messaging Services

If you are studying already, you will find that the secret weapon behind any group work is a well-coordinated messaging service platform, the likes of which have grown massively over the past few years. Simply get everyone into the same chat service and tasks can be quickly allocated. If they do manage to talk a bit too much — especially if the conversation is not pertinent to your work — then the mute button is always a good friend.