Educational technology such as apps can help students with time management, organization skills, homework, collaboration, and more. Applications that keep students on task can greatly help, considering incoming college students can often be unmoored.
College students often need help with time management and study skills. Experts suggest that students check to see what free tools are available from their college before seeking out apps on their own, noting, for example, the Microsoft Planner, which links to Microsoft Teams.
Below is a list of apps for college students recommended by educational technology experts interviewed for this story. As noted, the needs of individual students vary, and finding the right app will likely require some experimentation. Unless costs are noted in the app descriptions below, these learning tools are free to users:
- AnkiMobile Flashcards
This flashcard app supports multimedia and scientific markup, according to its website. AnkiMobile Flashcards is listed at $24.99 in the App Store for iOS but free for Android devices.
- Blackboard App
A popular learning management system, Blackboard is used at many colleges across the U.S. The mobile app allows students to access coursework for online classes or in-person classes with virtual components. Students can view the course content, complete assignments and tests, view grades, and more.
- Canvas Student
Similar to Blackboard, students can access coursework, submit assignments, and view grades with Canvas Student. Which app to download – Blackboard or Canvas – depends on the platform used by the student’s college.
- Duolingo
Billing itself as “the world’s best way to learn a language,” Duolingo offers lessons in 35-plus languages, helping users with speaking, reading, listening, writing, grammar and vocabulary. Duolingo offers both free and paid versions, the latter with an ad-free experience and offline access to lessons. Additionally, Duolingo has emerged as a test of English proficiency accepted at some U.S. colleges.
- Evernote
A note-taking and task-management system that offers the ability to sync across devices, Evernote allows users to create to-do lists, save webpages and digitize documents via a device’s camera. Evernote is free, though a premium version with more features costs $7.99 a month or $69.99 annually.
- Google Calendar
Given the reach of Google, students may already be familiar with commonplace apps like Google Calendar, which can be used to schedule events, create reminders, share availability, and more.
- Google Drive
Another classic, Google Drive can be used for free Google Cloud storage, which makes it handy for writing that term paper across various devices or for collaborating on shared documents with classmates.
- Mendeley
A reference manager and PDF reader, Mendeley offers students the ability to annotate and highlight PDFs, generate references and citations, sync work across devices and search a vast online library. The first two gigabytes of storage are free, with plans ranging from $55 to $165 a year for additional capacity.
- MindMeister
A tool for visualizing ideas, MindMeister allows users to generate idea maps. According to the app’s website, uses include project planning, note-taking, meeting management, and more. Though the basic version is free, plans for personal, pro or business accounts run from $4.99 to $12.49.