7 Best Educational Apps in 2016

Welcome to college.  You have your books, you have your courses, and you probably have some sort of budget.  The great news though is that there’s a whole bunch of apps that can not only serve as study tools, but can also help you organize your notes, finish up a project before the deadline, or even just keep you informed with relevant common knowledge.  So while you are brain is the captain of your academic ship, here are 10 apps that will help you perform even more effectively and efficiently.

1. Quizlet

An excellent general study app, Quizlet offers countless student created flashcard study sets under a wide range of types.  And do not worry if you don’t the exact subject you’re looking for, the Quizlet app allows to easily create your own sets and even allows you to integrate audio and images into your flashcards to enhance the whole learning process.   Another great feature of Quizlet is that it is supported by other study apps, thus the study sets you create in Quizlet can be transferred and reused in any other app that supports Quizlet. 

2. Coursera

A great way to get an academic edge on your fellow students is to go above and beyond what your professor is teaching you on a given subject, and supplement your knowledge using Coursera’s mobile app.  With Coursera’s partnerships with dozens of top-notch universities and colleges in the country – including Ivy League institutions – you will have access to a large variety of curriculums that will allow you to study and augment the information you are already absorbing at the school you are attending.  On top of using Coursera to assist you in the classes, you are currently taking, you can also use the app to study up on subjects before you are semester even starts, giving you a big head start on the competition.

3. iStudiez Lite

Keeping track of what you have to do and when in college is crucial for a student’s success.  Fortunately, the free iStudiez app can do a lot to help you organize and map our your course schedule by letting you oversee up to five courses per semester with 15 classes and/or exams per course.  And if you’re happy with the no-charge version but would like the limitations removed, for $2.99 you can have to Pro version which along with eliminating the 15 class/exam restrictions, also offers push notifications and a variety of other features.    

4. Exam Vocabulary Builder

So you can choose the college of your dream, but if you do well on an exam, the professional world, or just to improve your proficiency in English, you need to develop a solid vocabulary and the AccelaStudy app can help you do just that.  With the feature of “spaced repetition” this app will assist you in retaining what you learn while providing several useful learning modes such as Quiz, Flashcard, and Study.    

5. Dragon Dictation

For a lot of students, it’s easier to talk than type.  So if your late-night study session has killed the dexterity in your fingers or you’re still at the stage of hitting one key at a time with your index finger, than the Dragon Dictation app is for you.  With Dragon, all you have to do is start talking and everything you say will turn to a typed out document of words that you can then do whatever you need to with. 

6. MyScript Smart Note

If you are someone who prefers the tactile feel of handwriting notes versus typing them, then the Myscript Smart Note app is for you.  Although not quite responsive enough for taking notes during a lecture in class, it is more than sufficient for note taking as you study on your own. 

MyScript is available as a free app and possesses the awesome feature of being able to recognize various types of handwriting and does an a fairly impressive job converting writing that is less than totally legible.  Additionally, MyScript comes with a drawing mode, a palm-rest feature, and it allows you to implement images, equations, and sound files from such storage services as Evernote and Dropbox. 

7. Mint

Being in college often means it’s the first time a young person has had to seriously create and keep track of a budget and with most students having limited disposable funds, you need to keep a good eye on your expenses so you don’t go broke halfway through the month.  However, with the Mint app, students can easily track their finances by linking the app to their bank account and use the app to create reminders for when a bill is due so they don’t get zapped by those aggravating late fees. 

Guest article written by: Dante Munnis is a content manager and contributor on Papers Board.  He is interested in web related topics and technical stuff. Also, he is passion about education apps and likes to test them. You can get in touch with Dan via Twitter.