I wish you the best of luck in 2019, and I hope you are able to succeed in every aspect of life that you want to. Or at least get a little better.
In that spirit, I'm guessing that at least some of you want to learn stuff this year. Maybe you have exams coming up, or want to put more time into getting better grades, or even just like the idea of learning a new language. If so, you'll have to put some time into creating a study system that works for you, but some of these apps might just help with that. You definitely won't lose anything by giving them a try.
#1 - QUIZLET
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| Screenshot from: https://quizlet.com/315453881/famille-5-flash-cards/ |
They take forever to make. They're easy to get in the wrong order or lose. And there's a limited amount of times you can cycle through a set of square cards and flip them over before losing the will to live. Quizlet lets you write down a list of terms and definitions (or even import them from a Word Document / Excel spreadsheet etc.) and click a button, then it will make them into virtual flashcards for you. If you enter a term or question it's seen before, it will even suggest a definition. Not only this, but once you have a list (a 'set', as Quizlet calls it), it can quiz you and keep track of the words you usually get wrong, to help you go over them specifically.
The greatest thing about Quizlet is that it pretty much literally grants you the gift of time. The app is beautifully designed and you can download your most-used sets to practice without internet access. Anywhere. Those car journeys and waiting room moments that used to be wasted are now study time.
Oh, and did I mention that you can use other people's sets, too?
#2 - FOREST
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| Screenshot from: https://www.forestapp.cc/en/ |
If you have a procrastination problem, (AKA, if you are human) downloading Forest can and probably will help you at some point. The premise is quite cute: you set the amount of time you want to spend away from your phone, and a tree grows in that time ... but if you try to open another app before the timer is up, the tree dies, and instead of being beautiful and nourished your 'forest' for that day is full of dead trees that stand as a reminder of your failure.
It's a more positive experience than it sounds, I promise.
When I first heard about Forest I honestly thought it wouldn't work for me. Most of my procrastination stems from opening a new tab on my computer or following unnecessary dead ends while researching because they look interesting - my phone doesn't really factor into that. But something about having set a timer and working towards a full tree makes me feel like I have to focus, even if there isn't technically anything stopping me from wasting my time.
Just picture my excitement when I was doing the research for this post and discovered they have a chrome extension that extends the magic to your computer by allowing you to block your own access to certain websites.
Forest 1 - Procrastination 0
It's a more positive experience than it sounds, I promise.
When I first heard about Forest I honestly thought it wouldn't work for me. Most of my procrastination stems from opening a new tab on my computer or following unnecessary dead ends while researching because they look interesting - my phone doesn't really factor into that. But something about having set a timer and working towards a full tree makes me feel like I have to focus, even if there isn't technically anything stopping me from wasting my time.
Just picture my excitement when I was doing the research for this post and discovered they have a chrome extension that extends the magic to your computer by allowing you to block your own access to certain websites.
Forest 1 - Procrastination 0
#3 - SENECA
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| Screenshot from: https://app.senecalearning.com/dashboard |
(Seneca probably won't be useful to a fair number of you because it tends to be very specific, but I'm including it because it will be such an absolute lifesaver to those of you who can use it. Sorry, non-British folks.)
Imagine a sort of online revision guide written for every GCSE subject (some with a variety of exam boards) and a fair few A levels as well. Imagine if it could run from mobile devices, was completely free to access at all levels, and included the odd funny GIF.
It exists. Seneca is that thing. It was designed by a group of teachers and psychologists to allow people to learn material twice as fast as they would from books. I don't know if that's quite true, because I'm more than a little bit paranoid and only use Seneca alongside my books (it does miss out a fact or two every now and again), but it is really great in that it tests you as you go and is actually pretty good at getting facts to go in without feeling too much like hard work. Plus, being able to reach all your study resources with nothing but an internet connection and a device is an unbelievable secret weapon if you're disorganised and/ or living out of two houses like me.
Imagine a sort of online revision guide written for every GCSE subject (some with a variety of exam boards) and a fair few A levels as well. Imagine if it could run from mobile devices, was completely free to access at all levels, and included the odd funny GIF.
It exists. Seneca is that thing. It was designed by a group of teachers and psychologists to allow people to learn material twice as fast as they would from books. I don't know if that's quite true, because I'm more than a little bit paranoid and only use Seneca alongside my books (it does miss out a fact or two every now and again), but it is really great in that it tests you as you go and is actually pretty good at getting facts to go in without feeling too much like hard work. Plus, being able to reach all your study resources with nothing but an internet connection and a device is an unbelievable secret weapon if you're disorganised and/ or living out of two houses like me.
#4 - EVERNOTE
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| Screenshot from: https://evernote.com/ |
I switched to Evernote at the beginning of this school year after a Windows / external hard-drive related disaster that caused me to lose a whole half-term's worth of work. It's nothing special, really: a simple word processor with easy-to-use search features and the ability to import screenshots and documents. But what I love about it - and what makes it so necessary for exam preparation - is that it is literally available everywhere. If you can take your notes in Evernote, you'll be able to access them from pretty much any device that can access the internet or download an app. I've tidied up notes on my phone on the way home, I've finished off an assignment at the last minute from a school computer ... at one point, I even revised using Evernote on one of the PCs at the public library, and those things are so ancient they can't even run Google Chrome.
If you only take one piece of advice from me in this entire post, remember that 99% of successful studying is using the time you have, wherever you are and whatever resources you have available. Get yourself a note-taking and revision system that allows you to take advantage of those spare moments - for me, Evernote fits the bill.
If you only take one piece of advice from me in this entire post, remember that 99% of successful studying is using the time you have, wherever you are and whatever resources you have available. Get yourself a note-taking and revision system that allows you to take advantage of those spare moments - for me, Evernote fits the bill.
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In the comments: Do you have any study goals for 2019? Or is your resolution something else entirely? Please stop to have a chat, and if you have any other online tools to share, please do. I'm always looking for recommendations!