Top 10 iPad Apps for College Students
Joel Milani, Copywriter, YouShouldGoToSchool.com
When shown Apple's iPad, most people react in one of two ways:
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"Soooo it's a just big iPod touch, right?"
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-Or-
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"Oh my God, what does it do, I need one."
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Skeptics aside, iPad enthusiasm has been fairly widespread since its launch in April—as of July 2010, supply has yet to meet demand. People of all ages are finding creative uses for Apple's new device, but one group in particular stands to benefit from the iPad's versatility: college students.
Reading interactive ebooks, learning a foreign language and simply taking lecture notes are all possible on the iPad. And as developers envision and create new education apps, uses for the iPad on college campuses will continue to expand.
In no particular order, here are the top 10 iPad apps for college students:
1. iBooks. This app has the potential to change the way students use textbooks. eBooks are much less costly to produce than paper books, giving this app the potential to drive down textbook costs. Adding the obvious benefit of carrying one 1.5 lb iPad instead of several 5 lb textbooks makes iBooks a no brainer for college. Cost: FREE (plus the cost of ebooks)
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2. Pages. Creating and editing documents is easy on Apple's word processing app. Import and export Microsoft word documents to conveniently exchange documents with other students and teachers. Cost: $9.99
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3. iDisk. Bundled with Apple's MobileMe service, iDisk provides 20GB of online data storage. The iDisk app allows students to access that storage right on the iPad. Use it for backing up important files, or expanding the memory of your iPad. It does have limited file transfer functionality; files can be viewed on the app, but not downloaded. The current workaround is to email them to yourself. Cost: FREE (with $99/year MobileMe subscription)
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4. iStudiez Pro. This is a great time management tool that allows users to organize class schedules, assignment due dates and tests. Alerts can be set up so you remember when to leave for biology, and daily summaries make it easy to see where you have to be at any given time. Cost: $2.99
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5. Things. Similar to iStudiez Pro, Things is a task management app. Things is slightly more versatile since it is not tailored for use in a school setting. Things allows you to create, assign, organize and schedule tasks. The app can work in tandem with Cultured Code's Things software for Mac. Cost: $9.99
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6. Art Authority. For art history students, the Art Authority app provides a viewable artwork database, categorized by period, style and artist. This mobile art gallery also includes timelines and overviews, providing the historical context in which the works were created. Cost $8.99
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8. Evernote. This app allows users to save notes, pictures, audio or any combination of the three for easy reference later on. A great note-taking tool, Evernote becomes even more powerful when used with the free version for Mac and Windows. Cost: FREE
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9. Mental Case. This is an incredibly useful flash card app. Create your own, or take advantage of the FlashcardExchange.com database, which offers 21 million flashcards. Cost: $4.99
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10. iSource MLA (and APA). These apps make easy work of formatting bibliographies. Just enter source information (author, title, publisher, etc.), and iSource will format it in the correct style. Cost: $1.99
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BONUS: Netflix. This app allows you to stream online Netflix content on your iPad. This one is essential, because although success in college depends on knowing when to study—it's equally important to know when to take a break. Cost: FREE (Plus Netflix subscription)
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