Technology is ever-improving and coming up with new apps. With the coming of spring, many people look for new things to try so that they can make their life more organized and their studying more effective. Here are some of the apps that I’ve been using the most on my phone and computer; you might have heard of many of them already, but this could be your push to finally try them.
1. Evernote Scannable
In a time of Zoom, this is the mobile app I have turned to for all of my phone-scanning needs. It uses some kind of recognition software to detect where the edges of a page are, and then converts the entire document into an emailable PDF without any watermarks. On the rare occasion where it does mess up the scan, the app allows users to modify the edges of their scan.
2. Notion
Notion is an extremely versatile app that is available both on desktop and mobile. It’s a sandbox that can be used as a workspace for anything from a personal file and information bank for each class to a way to keep track of job and internship applications, a shared to-do list with your student organization, or even a way to organize information with your housemates.
Personally, I have been using it with my housemates as a shopping list, central place for our lease and wifi info, to keep track of our shared expenses when we grocery shop and pay bills. It’s a Google Doc, but better! My only quip is that events cannot be scheduled as recurring.
As a bonus, there are countless templates out there that are so aesthetically pleasing, which creators make available for personal use.
3. Google Calendar
Amidst a crazy schedule that mixes in-person meetings with Zoom meetings, class with extracurricular work, work with having fun, Google Calendar does it all! There are settings that allow events to be scheduled every week, Zoom links to be added to descriptions, invites to be sent to other people attending so that changes are reflected globally, color coding to make the calendar easier to read, and reminders that an event is happening. Calendars can even be shared with other people, thus allowing for transparency in student organizations about who is meeting when and where. If you are working with people in a different timezone, Google Calendar will show you the event time in different time zones.
4. Microsoft Outlook
There are many benefits to using the desktop version of Outlook as opposed to accessing Gmail on the web, because it offers more versatility. Firstly, it sends notifications to me on the right side of my screen when I receive an email, which is so useful when waiting for an important message to come in. Secondly, Outlook allows for sign-ins to multiple accounts at the same time. Many of us are balancing not only our Cornell accounts but also our personal accounts and accounts associated with student organizations, so having them signed in already on one platform can save a lot of time. The emails of each account can also be sorted. Thirdly, emails can be accessed without Internet connection. As the weather gets warmer, I’ve found that I work outside more often, where the Internet connection tends to be worse.
5. Anki
Anki is a flashcard app, but is far more versatile than physical flashcards. My favourite functions are that Anki can be synced between mobile and desktop, so I am able to study on the go as needed. The cloze function is my favourite, as it is a fill-in-the-blanks function that can create multiple flashcards from one fact. For example, for my plant biology class, I might have a card that looks like this:
One flashcard will prompt me for the name of the plant, and the other will prompt me for its psychoactive compounds.
Then, when reviewing flashcards in Anki, spaced repetition is used, a study technique that has shown to be effective. See this study for more information.
Let us know if you have any other apps that you’ve found useful, or if you try any of the ones suggested here! The days will just get longer, and the sun will be out more often, so it’s the perfect time to do something new.
Happy Spring, and stay safe!