Schools
Free Smartphone Apps For Back-to-School
Northville Patch has found some of the top applications for iPhone and other smartphone users that can help make going back to school all a little easier.
Tech-savvy students today have a lot of advantages mom and dad never did. So Patch went on a search for some of the top smartphone applications we think will help your student adapt to going back to school.
“Whether you’re using a tablet or smart phone, it’s completely increased the value that your device provides you” said Michelle Gilbert, Spokesperson for Verizon Wireless. “You
can always get email somewhere else, you can always do your social networking somewhere else, but to be able to have different apps that are going to engage your children from an educational stand point is priceless.”
Education apps have changed the way some students approach the school year.
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“Dictionary apps, thesaurus apps for writing papers, there are apps that will help high school students help study for the SATs, as well
as foreign language apps,” Gilbert said.
Not only do education apps provide a wealth of information you can take anywhere, but even an overall investment into technology is helping today’s college student save time, money, even a little lower back relief.
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“We’re seeing a lot of college students purchasing tablets and using them as their eReader for all their college textbooks so that they're
not carrying twenty pound backpacks,” Gilbert said. “On top of that, they’re saving money by doing eTextbooks versus buying even used hard copy textbooks.”
There are hundreds of free applications available between both iPhone and Android operating systems, so do your research. But to get you started, here's a list of the top applications you or your student might benefit from downloading.
Please note; the links provided are applications provided for the iPhone. Most popular apps have Android versions available. These links only get you to the iTunes store. For Android phones, you’ll have to look them up in the Android Market Place.
myHomework
With the myHomework app, you’ll never forget when your homework assignments are due again. Designed to make student life easier, myHomework allows you to sync and access your homework online from your computer through myhomeworkapp.com, as well as a colorful calendar to help organize class schedules. A considered “must have” for any student who might need a little organization in his or her life.
(For High school and College students)
Dictionary.com
What student doesn’t need a dictionary? Here’s one right at your finger tips! It offers nearly two million words, definitions, synonyms and antonyms. One of its best features is that no internet connection is needed to search words. Features also include audio pronunciation and voice-to-text search.
(For High school and College students)
Wikipedia has quickly become one of the top go-to sites for a wealth of information. Knowledge is power and the Wikipanion app puts all that power in your pocket. With features like bookmarking individual sections of pages, multiple search methods, entry preview, image saving to photo library and audio playback for dictionary pronunciations, among many more, Wikipanion provides a vast sea of data that can help any student complete a book report in no time.
(For High school and College students)
Coursesmart allows you lets you access your eTextbooks from anywhere by syncing them to your smart phone. You can also scan for images, tables, graphs and charts, skim thumbnails or full pages, view notes and lets you find what you’re looking for using keyword search.
(For High school and College students)
NOTE: This application requires an internet connection.
AroundMe is the perfect app for the new college student not knowing everything about his or her new surroundings. Using GPS technology, the app identifies your position and locates the nearest Banks, Bars, Gas Stations, Hospitals, Hotels, Movie Theatres, Restaurants, Supermarkets, Theatres and more, all while calculating your distance from where you are on the map.
(For College students)
Described by Apple as “the must have application for any college student,” Rate my Professors is a unique app that lets you view and leave feedback about over 1 million professors at over 6,000 schools in the country. Use this app as a new tool when deciding which classes you want to take. It also gives information regarding the difficulty of the course, amount of homework assignments and more.
(For College students)
Never miss a word during lecture or study group again. The handy iTalk Recorder let’s you start and stop recordings with a click of a button. Share your recording with others through email or direct file sharing in iTunes. Regardless of what you record, manage it all with just a fingertip. With three different levels of recording quality to choose from, you decide how crisp your audio sounds during playback.
(For High school and College students)
Evernote
Inducted into the Apple "App Hall of Fame" and one of the New York Times "Top 10 Must-Have Apps," Evernote lets you synchronize text, photos and audio notes from your phone to your Mac or PC. A very popular app that can make the school year more organized. Premium features lets you add, sync, access and share PDF, Word, Excel, PPT and more.
(for High school and College students)
With a long list of application accolades, Emd Pte has become one of the best in educational apps. The EMP periodic table of the elements gives an amazing amount of information for any student. Many can benefit from such a unique app. It’s not only high school and university students, but teachers and professors as well. Find information like relative atomic mass, melting point and boiling point, density, appearance and additional properties for each individual element.
(For High school and College students)
Digital readers are the new craze and with the Stanza app, you can turn your smart phone into a digital reader you can put in your pocket. Choose from over 4 million downloads to read, including over 50,000 free classic and recent original works. You can also transfer your own ePub, eReader, PDF, Comic Book Archive (CBR & CBZ), and DjVu books from Mac or PC using the easy drag and drop feature in iTunes.
Time Magazine, PC Magazine, the New York Times, Wired, Forbes, Apple and Macworld all have listed Stanza as a top application in numerous lists over the last three years.
(For High school and College students)
24/7 Tutor Inc. (Free Language Tutors)
Taking a foreign languages class? Then you NEED one of the many free language applications provided by 24/7 Tutor Inc. Through a native speaker and puzzle games, quizzes, flash cards, etc. the 24/7 Tutor Inc. apps will help you master one of several languages they offer. 24/7 Tutor Inc.’s free language apps are available in French, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese and Chinese Mandarin. The do offer Russian and Dutch applications, but those have fees applied.
Note: The link is for the 24/7 Tutor Inc. French Language app.
(For High school and College students)
What would a top app list that gives you a wealth of information be without the Patch.com app? If you’re reading this, then you know all about the great local information you can find on Patch. But did you know we had our very own app?
Just like the website, you can customize it to you specific location (providing you’re in or around one of our over 800 Patch site areas in the United States), and stay connected to local news, weather, sports and business in your town! Always know what’s happening around you in the community with this helpful app.
(for High school and College students)
