At the beginning of a new semester, students always try to be well-prepared for what college has in store. Some buy textbooks, others search for new gadgets, and a part of students download handy apps to make their lives easier. Today, the market for educational tools is developing at an incredible speed. It addresses any learners’ requirements: from time management to solving math problems and note-taking.
By the way, this process deals with many skills, including effective listening, clear handwriting as well as the recording of key points. In fact, academic performance greatly depends on how attentively students make their notes. That is why we have collected the best apps to help you keep track of everything read and taught in class.
Evernote
As the undisputed leader in the field of note-taking apps, Evernote offers everything you need to stay organized. Here, you can conveniently save the information and work with texts, schedule tasks and quickly find what you look for. Perhaps Evernote’s main advantage is that it allows you to save the content of any format. Therefore, photos, files, and lists can all be part of your notes.
What’s more, if you need to add something to your classroom notes, be sure to try working with images, and PDFs. The second great function is a quick search—find what you need in just a couple of seconds, using keywords. And third, Evernote synchronizes your notes on all your devices, so that you can access them even in the offline mode.
Evernote is available on all devices and platforms (Android, iOS, Windows). It is also compatible with many tools including Google Drive, Outlook, MS Teams, and Gmail. Perhaps, having discovered this information, you will want to revise the applications on your laptop and phone. In fact, many of them have amazing features. So why not explore them deeper? But be careful – this topic can take you over so much that you might forget about other matters. And if the homework deadline is soon, and you don’t have time to finish it, then it is best to turn to professionals for help. Outsourcing the assignment to WritePaper.com, you free yourself from worrying about low grades and missed deadlines. Authors do their best to make your paper brilliant, and in the meantime, you can fully focus on other tasks.
Notability
Notability offers a variety of tools for note-taking, such as handwriting, typing, and audio recording. You can also add photos, GIFs, web pages, and more to your notes. Here are other valuable features of the app:
- You can group notes using special themes;
- Search for handwritten and typed text, including one in PDF and images, as well as titles;
- Protect notes with Face ID and Touch ID.
Interestingly, Notability offers a handwriting feature that is optimized for the Apple Pencil. There is also a sound recording so that you can listen to lectures later. Plus, the multi-note feature is super handy—you can work with two notes side by side.
What else does Notability offer? For starters, you can import documents such as PDF, DOC, PPT, images, GIF, and other files. Also, there is a possibility to use iCloud to automatically sync your notes on iPad, iPhone, and Mac. These two functions are of special importance if you are to share your notes with fellow students. In fact, group study sessions are becoming more popular as some learners are more productive in a team than on their own. Together, you can deal with various college issues, from how to write a synthesis essay to preparing a history project. Working with other students, we get not only the necessary knowledge base but also invaluable support and motivation. Having all three factors, we can finish any assignment, no matter how difficult it is.
Google Keep
Another app is Google Keep, a handy app that lets you make notes, share them and get timely reminders. You can take photos of whatever you wish (be it a whiteboard or screen) so that you can quickly add them to other docs. Another wonderful function is voice notes, which are automatically converted to text.
Here are some other traditional features:
- Different types of notes (lists, texts, photos, and audio);
- Sharing notes and editing them together with friends;
- Quick search;
- Access from any device.
Another function useful for students is reminders. Specify a place or time, and Google Keep will help you remember an important task on your to-do list. Of course, the learners’ schedule is always busy. Thus, one can’t forget about sending an assignment to a paper writer or getting ready for an upcoming test. In addition, there are exams, group projects, and studying additional literature. The pace of life is rather fast, and we must admit that modern students are productive more than ever. They manage to combine school and job (or internship) duties, household chores as well as hobbies. Luckily, time management techniques save the day, and that’s exactly when Google Keep’s reminders come in handy.
Bear
For taking notes on Mac, iPhone, or iPad, we recommend downloading Bear. Many users appreciate it for its beautifully minimalistic design and amazing search function. By the way, Bear can also look for notes with specific elements, such as tasks or attachments—these might be PDF or Word files, images, etc.
The completed note can be saved in various formats: HTML, TXT, PDF, DOCX, JPG. This is brilliant if you share notes with users on different platforms. Also, you can export not only the entire note but also a part of it.
As for the organization, Bear uses tags and grouped notes which can be archived too.
The sync function is no less important. Thanks to Apple CloudKit, your notes will be available on different devices, but this feature is only available in the paid version.
Simplenote
Available for both Android and iOS, Simplenote combines many of the functions listed above. What are these? Audio recording, quick search, including the one, using tags. Also, the app syncs note across your devices for free, so that you always have access to them.
In addition, thanks to Simplenote, you can work on the files together with your friends and share them too. Other features include publishing content online and protecting your notes with a password.
To Sum It Up
Taking handwritten notes while trying to keep up with the lecturer’s pace has become an outdated choice for many students. Nowadays, there is no such problem, as most useful gadgets for quick note-taking. Luckily modern apps offer a variety of solutions. Download at least one of those mentioned above and you will notice how much simpler your life had become.