Who knew you could radically change your life using the power in your pocket? Cassandra Wright does, that’s for sure – the Senior Digital Marketing Specialist at Chisholm has not only made it her job to be across all things digitally savvy, but is also involved with a Triple R radio program on the topic, Byte Into IT, in her spare time. Here, she shares six of her favourite apps (available on Apple and Android) for a more streamlined student life.
Dashlane
“When you’re focusing on learning, having to remember multiple passwords for different programs can take up a lot of space in your brain. This password manager isn’t just an app for your phone but comes as a browser extension too, so it can manage log-in security across all your devices. It also has a feature where you can share passwords with people, without them actually knowing what the password is, and it’s really easy to set up. I started using it a couple of years ago and it makes life so much easier (not to mention saving time wasted from having to constantly reset passwords).”
Buddhify
“Studying can be really stressful, especially when you’re working on a million things. As well as other, more traditional meditations, Buddhify offers a selection of phone-based ones that get you to look at the screen of your phone, focus on the buttons, look at the outside of the phone and so on… So you’re actually using your phone, which is a way to snap out of the everyday that’s really grounded and realistic. I actually thought meditation wasn’t for me, and there are plenty of mindfulness meditation apps out there, but since using Buddhify I actually ‘get’ it.”
OneNote
“I started using OneNote when I first started studying. It’s really helpful for note-taking, especially if your institute has Office 365 (which Chisholm does). This Microsoft program syncs across your phone and desktop, and also allows you to back up your notes to OneDrive – never lose them again! There are different notebooks for different classes, with different tabs and pages; it’s also really easy to add audio recordings, screen shots, images, dot points, checklists… you can even collaborate on certain pages by sharing them with someone else, so it’s great for project work too. It can be hard to find what you’re looking for in your study notes, if you’re constantly creating new documents, but this keeps everything nicely organised in easily searchable sections.”
Good Blocks
“I downloaded Good Blocks because I was trying to help out a friend who was feeling a bit down, and I actually found it really helpful for myself. Basically, it’s a lovely little game that gives you a mood boost. In one of the modes, for example, a phrase will appear and if it’s a ‘good’ thought (“I am brave”), you pull it towards you, and if it’s ‘bad’ (“Nobody likes me”) you fling it away. Not all of us are people who chant positive things to ourselves in the mirror, but you can learn to get rid of negative self-talk with practice – and that’s super useful whether you’re a student or not.”
Grammarly
“Grammarly is an app and browser extension that takes spelling and grammar check to the next level. It might sound boring, but it’s great if you write a lot in-browser (for example, if you send a lot of emails, or make study notes in an online app like OneNote). You simply set Grammarly to Australian English and it checks for ‘regular’ errors and pulls you up on more complex issues, too – for example, when your sentences are too long or convoluted. It’s great for witty Facebook posts, too! And if you’re reading something complicated online (did anyone say course notes?) you can also set it to suggest synonyms for uncommon words. Now that’s a way to speed up your studies.”
Scanbot
“When you can’t get to a photocopier, having a scanner on your phone makes things really easy. It’s great to be able to go one step further than just taking a photo, and actually be able to turn it into text or a high-quality scan – especially when important documents need to be copied at better quality than your phone’s camera. Scanbot also has onscreen character recognition, so you can scan any worksheets given to you by teachers in hard copy, upload it into your device and then search the copy for what you’re looking for. Easy.”
