Web 2.0 Backpack: Web Apps for Students
Earlier today, Richard took a look at the state of e-learning 2.0, which got me to thinking about how school might be different if I were in college today because of the influx of new Web 2.0 apps aimed and students. I went to a school that utilized a Virtual Learning Environment called WebCT (since absorbed by the Blackboard company), and it really wasn't very fun to use. Note taking meant writing on paper, study groups meant face-to-face meetings, and if you were struggling through Shakespeare, your best bet was to turn to the library, not the Internet.
When I was in college most of the tools in this round up didn't exist. It was truly the dark ages of education! Well, okay, it was a just a few years ago, but just in this decade, and especially in the last few years, a handful of tools to make school life easier have appeared. What follows is the set of web tools I would put in my backpack were I headed back to school tomorrow.
Office Replacements
There's no software package I used more in college (or today, for that matter) than Microsoft Office. But who wants to plunk down $150 on office software? You're in college, after all, and I'm sure you can think of better uses for your cash. 5 years ago the alternative was Sun's OpenOffice.org suite, Corel's Wordperfect (still not free), or a handful of even less developed offline tools. But now there are a large number of impressive web apps that can handle your academic needs. The cream of the crop are below.
- Google Docs & Spreadsheets - One of the more developed online office tools, Google only offers a word processor and spreadsheet, though there have long been rumors of a presentation tool (and recent acquisitions by the company would suggest that they are likely true).
- Zoho Office Suite - Zoho is one of the most complete online office suites, offering more tools than you'll even find in Microsoft Office's student and teacher version.
- gOFFICE - No frills gOFFICE has a very familiar look and feel.
- ThinkFree - ThinkFree can replace Word, Excel, and Powerpoint with its suite of online apps, and they offer downloadable versions of their software as well.
- EditGrid - EditGrid only does spreadsheets, but does them very well.
Notetaking
More and more students are bringing laptops to class. Owning a laptop is a requirement for all first-year undergraduates at the University of Denver, for example. The proliferation of portable computers means that note taking doesn't have to happen with a pad and pen. The following web apps will help you take and organize your notes.
Mind Mapping
Now you have your notes, you need to put them together. The following mind mapping/flow charting tools will help you get your thoughts in order so you can go from raw notes to polished dissertation.
Studying
So you've got your notes, and you have them all mapped out and organized, but you still need to fill in some blanks. There are a number of online study aids that exist to help you find the answers you need.
- Wikipedia - Wikipedia should probably never be used for serious academic research, but it is a great "jumping off point." I often use Wikipedia to get quick background info on unfamiliar subjects and point me in the right direction for more in depth study.
- Yahoo! Answers - When searching the web fails, someone on Yahoo! Answers may be able to show you were to find the information you're after.
- AnswerU - AnswerU is like Yahoo! Answers for college, sadly not the most academic of sites, but you could certainly try your luck.
- SparkNotes - SparkNotes are (mostly) free, online CliffsNotes for a large number of books. They also do test prep, mathematics, science and a number of other subjects. Of course they can't really substitute for actually reading a book, but they can help you if you're having trouble figuring out Emily Bronte. (And it turns out that many CliffsNotes are now online for free as well!)
- Google News - Google News, especially with their new archive search, can be an invaluable research tool if you're researching a recent historical or current event.
- College-Cram.com - Free online study guides for science, math, language, and business topics.
- Tutorlinker.com - When all else fails, hire a tutor.
Bookmarking
With all that online studying you need a way to keep track of what you've read. Online bookmarking tools are a great way to do just that.
- del.icio.us - There are a large number of social bookmarking apps, but del.icio.us is king among them. If you don't like it, try Furl, Ma.gnolia, or Blinklist.
- Clipmarks - Save just a selection of a site. Don't like Clipmarks? Try Web-Chops (and read our reviews of both sites).
- Wizlite - Highlight text in online documents the way you would in a text book. Don't like Wizlite? Try i-Lighter.
Collaboration
Why study alone when you can get help from a friend? There is power in numbers.
- Facebook - The quintessential college network can be used for more than just planning parties and dating. Facebook can be used to keep in touch with classmates, share and discuss notes, and create study groups.
- Stikipad - A collaborative wiki service that you can use to keep track of group notes on a project.
- Backpack - All your notes, lists, and ideas in one shared space.
Calendars
Juggling your class schedule, extra cirricular activities, study time, and social life can be a challenge. The calendar apps below might help.
Calculations
What college arsenal would be complete with out a calculator?
Other Tools
- EasyBib - A tool to take the pain out creating a bibliography.
- OttoBib - Enter the ISBN of a book, and automatically have your bibliography entry created in MLA, APA, Chicago, BibTeX, or Wikipedia style.
- Zotero - A Firefox extension that lets you "collect, manage, and cite your research sources" from within your web browser.
- Google - Google really is the killer research app. You can do simple math, currency conversion, get answers to questions (like "what's the population of albania?" -- it's 3.6 million), search the text of books, look at satellite maps of the place your studying, and of course, search the web. Just check out all the stuff it does. (And all the stuff it might do in the future.)
Conclusion
While I don't think there's really a substitute for face-to-face learning, the online classroom continues to evolve in amazing ways. Students today have a host of web apps at their finger tips that can truly facilitate a better learning environment.
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Just a note - I think one of the best calculators on the web is instacalc. It's like a calculator/worksheet in one. Great tool.
SparkNotes is great, but only has 500 titles - also check out BookRags which has about 4000.
Great list! I used Sparknotes far too often in high school.
On a side note, at Drexel University, we use WebCT Vista, the latest incarnation of that crappy eLearning platform. The online education branch of the university ranks pretty well despite it.
I worked at The Math Forum for half a year which was formerly owned by WebCT before they sold the company to Drexel. It was amusing hearing the horror stories of how bad it was working under WebCT. The root password for one of the now-retired application servers was "webctsucks".
Great list of apps, but it's shame I've just finished my degree! Josh, you might want to repost this nearer the start of the next academic year (September in the UK).
I had the pleasure of struggling through my final year of University with the dire WebCT system as the main channel for my course structure, content, and communication. It wasn't fun, I can tell you that much.
Luckily enough I didn't need to use WebCT enough for it to effect my work. I chose the Web as my specialist topic, so everything I produced for my studies was learnt through sites such as RW/W. Richard MacManus - your blog was my WebCT!
"Software for Starving Students" is a great and free resorce for collage students.
http://softwarefor.org/
You left off Google Notebook; which when used *as* a notebook, is actually pretty versatile. It's nice to be able to divy up notes into digestible chunks and organize by lecture.
Docs & Spreadsheets is also as much a collaborative app as an office one - it's killer for those damn group projects.
Ok...as a college student, with some background in web, blackboard is the worst system ever. Even the faculty and staff admit that it is vastly sub-par. But the system is tied in with everything the University functions around.
I'm also the Campus Rep for Apple at my Uni, and I've dealt a lot with the educational system and many other Universities in my time. It all just gave me a headache.
I do wish that there was more discussion out there on the educational application. Universities function around their web interface and it SUCKS.
Pretty nice list here though, a few things I haven't come across.
There was an awesome web 2.0'ish flashcard app I discovered well over a year ago. I can't remember it for the life of me though, but it was pretty useful.
I never had a chance to use Blackboard, but if it is anything like WebCT (or at least how WebCT was 4 or 5 years ago), I don't doubt that is a pain to use. (I'm not sure if WebCT was absorbed into Blackboard's system or the other way around -- or if they still exist as separate products under the company's umbrella.)
When I was in college I had a job helping professors set up course sites in WebCT -- it was maddening. It had to be the least intuitive system I'd ever used. But the University had invested so much money into that they weren't about to change, even though no one really cared for it.
@#1 an #2: Thanks for the tips on Instacalc and Bookrags. :)
A very comprehensive list! Also wanted to share with the readers here our free educational tools :
Need Flashcards?
http://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/
Want to create a quiz?
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/
Great list. One of my professors used Protonotes (http://www.protonotes.com/) for all his class lectures. Basically he was able to share his notes in context of webpages that were about the stuff he lectured that day.
This is an amazingly useful post. Thank you.
I myself collect details of information mapping and info management tools. These are all browser-based applications that do mind mapping, concept mapping, diagramming or make outlines, and I'd like to add to your list:
Outliners___________________________
sproutliner.com Basic on-line outliner that lets you share outlines
thinkfold.com Collaborative on-line outlining application
Information mapping_________________
bubble-mind.com Collaborative mind mapping
glinkr.net Concept mapping and mind mapping (shared but not collaborative)
mapul.com Collaborative mind mapping with an organic flavour
touchgraph.com URL mind maps for network visualisation
wikimindmap.org Make mind maps from WikiMedia articles
webofweb.net Collaborative mind mapping
Generic diagramming__________________
cumulatelabs.com/cumulatedraw/ Collaborative diagramming – can draw mind maps and concept maps
imaginationcubed.com Collaborative diagramming – can (just about) draw mind maps and concept maps
Regards
Vic
http://www.mind-mapping.org
The master list of mind mapping &
information management software
Hey you forgot to add me on that list College Jabber. I think I can really help out people network with others. I'm trying to make the ultimate forum so everybody could talk to each other. Let me know what you think.
It may not be a web application but the Tablet PC is getting a lot of attention by college students these days. I sure know I couldn't live without mine. I can take notes in my own handwriting and there are many other helpful things about the tablet.
$150 is chump change compared to (a) a notebook computer, (b) college textbooks, (c) a typical night at the club chasing girls gone wild, oh and (d) tuition. To me it's a cheap price to pay to guard against net fadeouts and data lossage. I hate the experience of typing up something, my mind flowing happily along, then clicking Save, Submit Comment :-), or whatever, only to find that the dorm/hotel WiFi faded out. Oops!
PS: I suree wish blugging apps wud let commmenters edit there posts :-)
Maybe www.sitetradr.com and www.mind-meister.com are interessting too for students...
Greetings
Lance
Notefish (http://www.notefish.com/) is a great tool for collecting your web research and notetaking. Browser extension (that enables clipping) is available for both IE and Firefox.
Check out the site for more info or read a review (and watch a short demo) here:
Notefish - a tool to support students researching using the Internet
http://paulharvey.edublogs.org/2007/03/02/notefish-a-tool-to-support-students-researching-using-the-internet/
Cheers,
Eugene Mizin
Notefish team
http://www.notefish.com/
You have not addressed web tools for student clubs and organizations. At NYU, the student clubs are using College Mailer to manage membership, send targeted emails, create events with RSVP functions, create club web pages and surveys, etc. Students can post feedback and ratings, and clubs can share information among themselves.
CollegeMailer
If you are a student club, you can sign up for free.
though, the web apps looks exciting now, they surely lacks in feature when compared with the desktop counterparts. The compatibility between web apps and desktop apps also a question here. So, mu suggestion is instead of integrating application into web, integrate web into application.
You should add MySchoolog.com too...
Need to mention another great notetaking, sharing and publishing tool, and that is qipit.
Qipit allows you to shoot your classnotes (or your mate's ones) with your DSC or even your cameraphone and turns the usually unreadable photograph of a doc into a clear crisp PDF digital copy.
Plus you can store it online, tag it, and even publish it to your blog.
The service is currently FREE and hold up to 100 pages.
http://www.qipit.com/longhorns
in the 'studying' category, you could also add http://www.incredicampus.com/studysmartindex.php , it has a pretty neat collection of online lecture notes...
I would recommend the google platform across the board for most of the student areas.
I noticed it wasn't mentioned for Bookmarking or Notetaking. Google Bookmarks and Google Notebook work great for these areas.
The integration and sharing between the Google Applications as well as the 3rd party integration possibilities makes it definitely a front-runner.
Check it out starting with IGoogle.
"...if you were struggling through Shakespeare, your best bet was to turn to the library, not the Internet."
Being a librarian, I can imagine worse things than having to turn to the library :-;
That said, a whole lot of what people used to have to go to the library for is now online though you still have to go through the library's website, if only to authenticate, since much of the good stuff is subscriber-based (e.g. LexisNexis).
You can even "talk" to a librarian online these days -- usually through IM or some form of Chat.
The systems they're using now are way easier than even a couple years ago. Some are even using "Google Scholar" which means you'll feel right at home with the search interface while still doing the kind of "lit search" that you couldn't do on normal Google.
So the apps here are great -- I use many of them myself day-in, day-out. But where they really come in handy is when used together with the stuff coming out of the library -- stuff that costs a fortune for the university but which can make the difference between a great paper and one your dog could have put together.
You must add mySchoolog.com among these links. It's a very useful tool for students that allows students to control their school life easily, quickly and practically. mySchoolog also won a Gold Medal in a international programming contest.
How about Questia (www.questia.com)? A friend of mine started the company and I understand that it's most valuable to college students in the social sciences and humanities.
This list is great, and I'll be sure to check out a lot of the stuff when I have the time.
But where are the alarm clocks? I don't know any college student who doesn't need one for waking up in the morning or knowing when they need to stop playing Halo and go to class.
No one has mentioned Gradefix?
Its gotta be the best student web2.0 tool out there.
www.gradefix.com
College Jabber blows ass.....no more forums in the comments please. Your useless forum should be the next victim of a DOS attack. Step on your head while you're drowning.....
Facebook?? MySpace? Anything else...but no forums.
Good list!
p.s. "del.icio.us" is splet wrong : "dle.icio.us - There are a large number" ;)
Excellent roundup! I'm emailing a link to my brother - a freshman at Penn State.
Though del.icio.us is great, and I use it all the time, if the student happens to be science-oriented,(Connotea is a fantastic tool that was created by the Nature Publishing Group (publishers of Nature, etc.) specifically as a social bookmarking tool for scientists. And, unlike del.icio.us, it is set up to automatically retrieve bibliographic information from several recognized sites (PubMed, etc.). I know it would seem like a pain to have yet another social bookmarking tool, but because Connotea is aimed at such a specific audience, it's far easier to take advantage of the knowledge of such a specialized community with a shared language, and collaborate far more easily.
@ #29: Thanks! Typo fixed. :)
You have to have Inspiration as a mind-mapping tool. I use it on my Mac all the time. Great program. None better.
Hands down best student tool on the market today: Omni Outliner
(http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnioutliner/)
I absolutely LOVE this application. Helps me organize papers before I write, do research, plan my busy life, track things to do. It's so simple, but powerful because you can use it for so many things and it just gets out of your way and lets you write and organize. Worth every penny.
re: the question/answer sites: Yahoo Answers and Answer U are okay but I think the best q & a site is Fluther.com ...definitely the most helpful and I've gotten great answers to my questions. Their link is http://www.fluther.com
Quick notes can be taken on http://www.greendoc.net.
I can't believe everyone left of Studicious (http://stu.dicio.us/) They have a great collaborative note taking application that has an offline mode.
Extremely well done.
Oh yeah, and what about google notebook! Its great for doing research reports. I do a lot of research at work using it.
Don't forget mySportsplanner.com. This is a free online scheduling for team sporting. More than 19.000 users!
Cheers,
Aart
I actually work for Questia Online Library, and I believe that it should have been mentioned in your list. It combines several of the products listed above into one service. We cover over 6,000+ research topics and have over 1.5 million books, journals and articles. It is worth a review.
As a recent ex-student, the only web technology I used to aid in my studying was Wikipedia..
great tips!!
you might want to add calgoo to your calendar list. its not an online program but rather a way of using various calendaring programs together and having both a local storage of information and information storage on google cal. been using it since it went beta and its been a very nice companion for my calendaring needs.
-s
One more to Calculations:
Coount - this is great Web App from Poland.
Josh, this is a super post.
You might want to add Data360 to Office Replacements, Studying or Collaboration. It's a tool for finding statistics and time-series charts in a downloadable form; it also is a tool where groups of people can collaboratively study, analyze and build graphical presenations their large datasets. If you make your data public, having a platform site of your own name is free.
See http://www.data360.org
Regards, Tom Paper
I downloaded a cool app. It's voice search of the internet. You can speak to your computer and make searches without touching your keyboard. http://www.tazti.com. Including Myspace, Wikipedia, YouTube, Flicker, Google and others... It really works and it's FREE!! the right price for me.
I also discovered Google Scholar (from the Google main page, where it lists "images" and "maps", you click "More" and one option is Scholar.) It sometimes gives you journal articles you can't find on PubMed, and often has a link to a free PDF of the article.
http://cueflash.com is a great flashcard web based app that adapts to you.
Forgot to mention shvoong.com which is a great tool for students.
We have built a free online outliner that is geared towards collaborative work. I teach in a school here in India and have got many students to start doing their project work using this tool. They can invite their guides, teachers or friends to join in and work together on their projects. LooseStitch allows importing OPML files and also exporting to various formats once the project is complete. Please do check it out.
www.loosestitch.com
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