College. Some people dream about it, some people dread it. The business of education is now a required gateway for many in order to have a job.
In order to make it through the modern college environment, you have to have some sort of tech knowledge. Hardly anything is solid on paper anymore, most books are virtual and even most tests and quizzes are on a computer rather than in class.
Here, we will cover the top ten tech tips that will help you survive in a technology based educational world!
Charging Items and Charge Cables
One of the best pieces of tech advice to give is always have backups. Through a good deal of hard earned knowledge, I found that having cables with multiple uses is the best way to go when you want to keep things compact, but still have all of the cords that you need.
If you aren’t living on campus, it is even more important to have extra cables and to make sure that everything was charged up the night before. It’s not fun when your laptop shuts down in the middle of a paper.
With your computer, make sure that when it is at a full charge (and you aren’t doing any heavy duty processing) you remove the charging cable. Batteries that are left plugged in constantly will have a shorter lifespan because they constantly have electricity running through them. If laptops aren’t your thing, give this Dossier Labs Desktop Review a read: there’s some great options!
Free Software and Tech Savings
Gimp, student trials of Microsoft Office, Student licenses of Microsoft Office, Audacity, Canva, Evernote, Google, and Zoom are just a few of the applications that are either paid for by your university or they can be free to access.
What is even better is if your school doesn’t provide access to Microsoft Suite or some other processing package, you can easily sign-up for discounted Microsoft and Adobe applications with your school email.
Phone Connections
Connect your school email and school course shell to your phone for easy access to notifications. Yeah it might get annoying to have all of the notifications sometimes, but it will help decrease anxiety and make sure that you are aware of any course changes.
That is something worth repeating: connecting your phone will keep you aware of any course changes and there can be a lot!
School Specific Drive
If you are using your personal computer for school, which most of us do, then it is wise to have a separate drive to store all of your homework. Yes, there is creating another folder in your computer, however you have no idea how much space your homework will take.
After completing college, I had to get a terabyte to store all of my school information in. It is a middle price investment that will help keep your computer uncluttered and able to run more smoothly.
Magical Paper Websites
Not everyone is a paper whiz who can crank them out in a few hours then turn around and get an ‘A’.
This is why it is important to know these tech tips that can help you set up any paper for success.
- Citation Machine (from Chegg)
- Purdue Owl
- Hemmingway
- Grammarly
If you are still having trouble, check out Tutor Matching Service for someone to review your paper and help you out. Pretty handy, right?
Best Mathematics Resources
Much like writing, some people like math and some don’t. It’s a very polarizing course and it can be the most frustrating thing that you will have to take as a college student.
However!
There are always resources and tips to get you through a subject, especially mathematics. One of the biggest resources that myself and so many others use is Khan Academy or Z library.
The teachers that create the videos work through problems slowly, you can read the transcripts, and you can check your knowledge by using their free quizzes.
If you are looking for something that is more math specific, check out Wolfram MathWorld. Wolfram Alpha is also a program that can solve any equation that you enter into its window.
MathWorld is a very powerful resource as the designers go over the fine details and break down subjects very carefully.
Conclusion
College, no matter what generation you are in or from, is a big step into the unknown where no one ever tells you enough to avoid being blindsided by changes and missed paperwork. Fortunately, you can look to this guide for the tech tips that would have been helpful on the first day of class.
Now that you have these tips, it’s time to face the school year ready to take on any subject as well as be prepared for any dying batteries!
