In December 2010, still dancing to Waka Waka with my little Zakumi, I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree. Five years later and I’m back in the game – and the landscape has changed substantially. In 2010 there were no smartphones guys. Ok, that’s a lie – but they were still relatively rare and expensive. L.A. Noire had just been released and the very first iPad came out. In short, 2010 was a loooong time ago in tech years. Flash forward to now and I’m struck with how much easier life is being a student in 2015.
And now, in tribute to the Scholary-Tech gods who have made 2015 such a wonderful time to be a student, I give you: 7 ways tech has made being a student easier.
Finding Scholarships
Nothing is worse than wading through the endless documentation at the Fees Office or Googling your life away trying to find a scholarship that you qualify for. Scholly seeks to end that, by providing tailored suggestions according to your major, academic results and demographic data. Christopher Gray was inspired to develop Scholly “to help reduce the $100 million and more in scholarships that go unclaimed every year and get students invested in funding their own education”.
Referencing
Back in my day I had RefWorks and Endnote, but at that stage it was confusing to use and was not free. Five years on these tools are more user-friendly, although they still carry a price tag. Fear not my budget conscious kin! As with most things in life, eventually someone will make it better, for free. The referencing tool you decide to go for is a deeply personal one, dependent upon your temperament and line of research. Personally, I prefer BibMe – it covers a wide variety of styles and is easy to use.
Finding and lugging around textbooks
The youths of the future will never understand the back-breaking agony of lugging hardcover textbooks around campus.The advent of affordable and reliable e-readers (I recommend Kobo) means that you have access to all of your textbooks, all of the time if you choose to carry a handbag. Many ebook versions of textbooks now give you access to free updates meaning you will never have an out of date edition. For any English majors (like myself), you will save a substantial amount of money as most books in your syllabus are available for free download – and this is completely legal.
Reading online articles
The internet is great for accessing obscure information, but it will make you blind. Pocket is a nifty tool that allows you to send articles to your e-reader to read later. If you insist on reading long articles on a glaring screen though, respect your eyes and install the BeeLine Reader plugin. Originally developed for those with dyslexia, BeeLine Reader adds a colour gradient to your text – making it easier on your eyes and allowing you to read faster. Side note: This is my favourite thing in the world.
Not dying of boredom
Listen, I’m doing my Masters so I’m not entirely unstudious, but studying can get really boring. I don’t think I need to explain to anyone reading this how YouTube has revolutionised learning. So instead, I will list my favourite learning resources; TedTalks, Crash Course, The SciShow and Thug Notes (I’m a B.A. kid).
Managing your time
A problem as old as time, staying focused requires Jedi levels of self-control when solid entertainment is but a click away. Actually it doesn’t have to be particulary interesting – I just spent the last hour researching prion. Cue StayFocused, an app and browser plug-in that removes all distractions and cheers you along the way to a completed task. You set a task, apps and sites you will use for said task, set the work vs break ratio and off you go. During that time you won’t be able to access anything on your computer that’s potentially distracting (not even Minesweeper). After 45 minutes (the default work period), it will alert you to take a break, and the cycle starts again until your task is over.
Getting an Education
South Africa has major problems with basic education, and I am cognisant of the massive hurdles we face. However for those of us who can get hold of a computer with internet access, the potential for learning is exponential. Coursera offers free online courses from some of the most prestigous universities around the world. And its awesome.
Happy learning nerds!
