Over the holidays, I received an e-mail from CourseSmart. This e-mail promoted the company's new, free iPad/iPod application. In addition to the e-mail, I visited the company's blog and found an entry titled, "Getting the Most from Your Tablet".
Here's the information...
So, you got a tablet this holiday, and you can’t wait to take it back to school. While access to email, Facebook, and endless amounts of games are great, how can you really get the most of your new gadget this semester? Well, we’ve got a few tips to help you get the most from your device, and keep you at the top of your class.
Don’t judge a tablet by its cover.
Having a cool case for your tablet not only protects the device, but also serves as an extension of your personality. Companies like InCase offer cases in a variety of colors, materials and even patterns. But, why not make your case work a little harder? Cases with integrated Bluetooth keyboards are now hitting the market. Kensington recently released the KeyFolio for iPad, and Brando followed suit with a Bluetooth keyboard folio for the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Keep organized and carry on.
Coursework can get overwhelming very quickly if you aren’t prepared for the onslaught of essays, exams, projects and presentations. Keep your school life, and personal life organized by taking advantage of your tablets built-in calendar app. Color-coding classes, or projects, setting reminders and alerts will help keep you on top of everything happening this semester. Need some heavy duty organization? Check out web-based calendars like Google Calendar or Mozilla Sunbird. Both calendars offer the ability to create a highly organized calendar with the added bonus of being available to you anytime, anywhere on any web accessible device. A newer player in the organization game is Scrybe. Scrybe is a web-based organizer that offers all of the functions of a regular online calendar plus, thought-sharing, list building and research assistance. Perfect for those team projects you will be tackling this semester!
Ditch the paper! Save your back and the environment.
Try something new this semester by purchasing eTextbooks instead of the old print versions. Not only are you eliminating the need to carry around those heavy textbooks, but you are also being green and saving some trees. Taking advantage of apps like CourseSmart’s new iPad app lets you view your textbook anytime, anywhere, and can save you some money as well. With features like highlighting, searching and printing, you can still mark up and even have print copies of the info you need most. Just grab your tablet as you head off to class for the day, and you’ve got all of your textbooks in one, easy to carry place!
Never miss a detail.
Once you’ve gotten your hands on a case with a keyboard and your eTextbooks loaded, you’re ready to tap out class notes like a pro, right? Well, even the pros could use a little help once in a while. If you decide to go paperless with your tablet this semester using a note taking or highlighting app can help you keep all of your class notes in order without having to carry around loads of binders or notebooks. New apps like Note Hub allow you to view multiple items at once, and you can even mark them up and take notes on them. You can easily view a textbook, notepad and calculator on one screen so you can tackle that crazy stats homework. You can even adjust the size of the items making the textbook larger so you can read the text, while still being able to use the calculator and write things down. Don’t let note taking for web research get you down. Many browsers now have compatible web highlighter add-ins that allow you to create persistent highlights, add sticky notes, and even share your highlights with friends.
Now that we’ve got you started with some tips to help you get the most out of your tablet (and your education) this semester, you’ll be taking better notes, studying smarter and saving a ton of time.
Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.
