Library: Graduate & Online Students: Mobile & Online Apps

Helpful Mobile and Online Applications

Evernote
A robust app for notetaking and collaboration. Create text, audio, photo, and video notes. You can also create notebooks to organize your notes and share notebooks with other Evernote users.
Dropbox
Store your files 'in the cloud' and have access to them anywhere. Great for having your syllabi and assignments readily available. Download Dropbox on your home computer and mobile device(s) and then choose the files (documents, photos, etc) on your computer to be synced with Dropbox. You will be able to access these files from your mobile device(s).
Camscanner
Turns your smartphone or tablet into a scanner! Just take a photo of the document and use Camscanner's editing tools to clean it up. Save the file as a PDF and voila! You have a digital copy of your paper document. Bonus, students with a .edu email address can register and get the paid service for free! Camscanner also offers mobile FAXing for a fee.
MyHomework
There are many scheduling and homework apps out there. Some are super robust (and super expensive). MyHomework is free to use and pretty simple...but it gets the job done. Enter your schedule, deadlines, homework assignment notes and the MyHomework app will alert you via your mobile device that something is coming due. Tweak the settings to suit your needs.
Educreations
iOS only. Turn your iPad into a recordable whiteboard that allows you to share your ideas with students or colleagues. Record and replay your voice, handwriting and drawings to create video tutorials and animated lessons. Share lessons via Facebook and Twitter or embed them on your blog or course website.
Mindmeister
This app allows you to create mind maps and share them with others. Great way to visually collaborate and map out ideas for projects.
Bubbl.us
Create and share mind maps.
Google Drive
Your Western email is routed through the Google client, so you already have a Drive account! Google Drive offers many cloud services, including documents (like Word), spreadsheets (like Excel), presentations (like PowerPoint), forms, and a drawing tool. Share your items with others and collaborate in real time. Also has a commenting system and a live chat.
Pocket
There are many different 'bookmarking' apps out there, but we like Pocket quite a bit. Pocket allows you to save things you find on the web and view them later. Easy, right? Well, you can also tweak a lot of settings to read/view your saved items in comfort. Pocket is very friendly with other apps and browsers too, so you can use Pocket anywhere and share your finds with others easily.
Feedly
RSS Feed Reader

Apps that Block Online Distractions

If you have a tendency to get distracted by social media, email, and online games, but you must be online to complete your assignments, there is a solution. Download an app that allows you to block distracting sites for designated periods of time. This will help you be more productive on your work. Check out some options below!

The following apps are not owned or maintained by Savage Library.

SelfControl
"SelfControl is a free and open-source application for Mac OS X that lets you block your own access to distracting websites, your mail servers, or anything else on the Internet. Just set a period of time to block for, add sites to your blacklist, and click "Start." Until that timer expires, you will be unable to access those sites--even if you restart your computer or delete the application."
FocusWriter
"A simple, distraction-free writing environment. It utilizes a hide-away interface...allowing the program to have a familiar look and feel to it while still getting out of the way so that you can immerse yourself in your work. For Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X, and has been translated into many different languages." Free, but encourages a tip of $1, $5, $10, or $20 with download.
Freedom
"Freedom is the world-famous Internet, social media, and app blocker. Freedom works on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac and Windows computers." From $2.42/month. They do have a free trial version.
Focus
"A Mac app to block distracting websites like Facebook and Reddit." From $19.99, single license. They do have a free trial.
Focus Booster
Uses the pomdoro technique. Master the pomdoro technique: 1. Focus completely on a task for 25 minutes. 2. Take a 5 minute break. 3. Repeat three more times. 4. Take a 20 minute break. Starting at $3/month. Offers a free trial version.

Leslie J. Savage Library

Graduate & Online Students: Mobile & Online Apps

Graduate & Online Students

Helpful Mobile and Online Applications

Apps that Block Online Distractions