The modern student as a lot more tools and strategies at their fingertips than anyone over 50 years ago, or in fact, over 15 years ago! The rise and rise of technology have shown that we can take in so much more information than our parents and grandparents ever could. But while there is a debate on if the technology is distilling our access to information and not taking it in properly, there is one place where technology proves peerless, and that is during college education. It can be very stressful to keep on top of all of your work while also being presents in lectures (instead of being passive) which means we need to make the most of every single tool we can get access to. Here are a few.
Speech to text
This is a lifesaver for a lot of students because half of their time is spent typing essays and if you don’t have the nimble fingers capable of typing 100 words per minute, it can leave you at a severe disadvantage. But luckily the sophisticated nature of voice recognition software now means that you can type the equivalent of roughly 2000 words in the space of an hour. So when you think that the average dissertation is 10,000 words over the course of a college year, you could potentially start and finish your dissertation over the course of 5 hours. The best thing to do with software, such as Dragon Dictation or even your Google Keyboard is to keep using it, so the software recognizes your voice. It can be very difficult at the start especially if you have numerous assignments to complete but as time goes on, you will find that it’s an absolute lifesaver. You can type essays on the move if you need to, or if you have too many things to do you it doubles your productivity!
Note taking software
It is a common issue that if you are under pressure and you have an essay to deliver on time, you may have to miss other lectures to get that essay in on time. And not only does this put you at a disadvantage for that class that you’ve missed meaning that you could suffer in tests down the line which will affect your overall grade, but your absence is clearly noticeable. The advent of the Internet means that we can be “present” at lectures without having to be there either, via online note-takers such as on gradebuddy.com or collaboration forums where people can help each other catch up on what they’ve missed helps students no end. The benefits of having someone on gradebuddy take your notes for you as well as provide study guides before an exam means that you are able to multitask efficiently. There are plenty of the usual note-taking software students go to such as on evernote.com, but you need to identify the software that is best for your unique learning style. And while some people prefer note-taking so they can read the information back afterward, a lot of people prefer to be present and listen in on lectures.
