As a mother of a 14 year old, I appreciate that studying is not always an easy task. However, I always delight in telling me daughter that it was much harder in my day. After all, she has access to some great gadgets that can make her life so much easier. Looking around my daughter's room, I know that she has at least 5 great gadgets to make studying an easy task, it is not any longer down to just a highlighter!
The Cheating Watch
Of course, my daughter does not call it a cheating watch, she calls it her "wrist reminder". It made me laugh at first, but I realized that it even had an emergency button to take it back to a normal watch screen when teacher walked by. To be honest, I don't think it is such a bad thing. You can put as little or as much information on there as possible, and it comes with an interface for Word.
I have to give my daughter credit, as she does not use the watch to cheat outright. She stores essential information her watch such as key dates, and words that she finds difficult to spell. The great thing is that this handy little gadget can store audio, video, pictures and more text than you can fit in a school library. I rather fell in love with it, and bought myself one as well.
Of course, I don't need to cheat in school, but it is handy for business notes, and I love the fact it has a calendar on it as well.
Amazon Kindle Keyboard 3G
This is another popular study gadget and a great alternative to the standard Kindle. My daughter loves hers as she is a real information junkie. She loves to give her assignments that special touch, and the Amazon Kindle Keyboard 3G, allows her to store over 3000 books. It is great if you just want to look things up quickly, and my daughter has downloaded lots of books on topics for the up coming year. She now has her own instant library, and can make her assignments stand out by referencing a piece of text from a book more easily.
iPad Apps
Yes, we have bought her an iPad, just couldn't help it really. We thought it was just going to be used for listening to music and talking to her friends on Facetime, but this enterprising 14 year old has turned into a study aid. She has two great apps that help her a lot, and I think that they are both brilliant.
Penultimate is a handwriting app which costs just $1.99. It makes it easy for student to make notes during class, and is absolutely great for field trips. During a recent visit to a museum, she was able to make notes about the different photographs she took.
Soundnote is another iPad app which allows you both to record notes and make notes. It is great for record a special lecture, or you can record your own questions. My daughter uses it to record questions on her homework, and then plays them back to test her own knowledge. Well worth the $4.65 that we paid for the app.
Livescribe Echo Smartpen
This is perhaps the ultimate study gadget, and became an invaluable friend on a recent school trip to a volcano. My daughter recorded the teacher's lecture close to the top of the volcano with the noise of the volcano as a back drop. Afterwards, she could play it back as many times as she wanted to, and it can be preserved forever. Great for retrieving detailed information when the class takes place somewhere where it is difficult to make notes. Of course, you can record your on voice as well.
Noise cancelling headphones
My husband argued that she should not need noise cancelling headphones, but it turns out that libraries are not the quite places they once used to be. My daughter likes to do a lot of her homework during her lunch break, or a free period. Her noise cancelling headphones are great, and we have noticed that she knows her homework much better since we invested in them. Clearly, she has an opportunity to study both at home and in school.
These are just 5 great gadgets to make studying an easy task, and there are many more out there. I have learned that it is down to personal choice, and learning to adapt. All children study in their own unique way, however, never forget that they are very much influenced, and inspired by, modern technology.