Matric is tough enough as that, add a global pandemic and a shorter school year, and what you have is a recipe for failure. Your future literally depends on your school year. Universities use the results for admissions, so you can't afford not to stand out if you plan to study further. Fortunately, while technology has improved dramatically over the years, there are now endless resources to help you study. It's easy to get overwhelmed with options, but we're here to help. Here are five key apps to help you set up and follow a well-structured study plan.
1. Note taking app
Since you can use your phone in class, taking notes has never been easier. Gone are the days of writing on pads of paper only to lose them or keep them in large files where they would get stained or damaged. With note-taking apps, you can save your notes to your phone, organize them neatly, share them with friends as a collaborative study group, and even attach links to important sources. There really is only one option when it comes to note taking and that is Evernote. It has a free basic plan that allows you to use most of the features, the only drawback is the space of 60MB per month. But it's unlikely you'll need more storage. The notes are not meant to be exhaustive, and creating too many is not good study practice. If you need more space, you will have to pay to upgrade to the Premium plan, which costs R46.99/month, which is very affordable. Writing a study planner is one way to go, however downloading an app has additional benefits designed to keep you on track. It's easy enough to ignore your calendar if it's on a piece of paper, but if an app reminds you and even replays the experience, you have more incentive to reach your study goals. That's why using a simple yet effective to-do list type study app like Todait is a good idea. This free app helps you set study goals so you know how to keep track of your progress. It also automatically adjusts your schedule depending on whether you are late or ahead of schedule.
3. Voice to Note app
While a note-taking app is great for understanding everything, it likely has recordings of your lessons. Transcribing them can be time consuming, so using a voice memo app is very helpful. Please note that many of these apps are not 100% perfect. You will probably need to revise them later to fix the bugs introduced by the AI. This is especially true in South Africa, as many do not fully understand our accents. A good option is the Speechnotes app, designed for longer recordings and capable of handling almost an entire lesson. The app is free, with a Premium option if you want to spend some cash.
4. Study guides
If you are looking for something to help you take notes and give you a better understanding of the material, then a study guide app is for you. Like your manual, this app contains the information you need, in a more digestible format. Matric Live is a great study tool that includes all topics and focuses on the current Matric curriculum. It also includes terminology lookup so you don't have to rush to Google every time you don't understand something. The format is easy to use and even includes previous articles. In addition to being free, the app covers work from grade 10 to Matric, which means you can use it earlier.
5. Old paper application
Previous jobs are essential. Once you've worked through a few, you'll begin to recognize patterns in the way questions are written and identify questions that have been used more than once. While some topics like math can almost only be studied by reviewing examples, the articles above can help with English, history, or drama. Once you've learned the theory, sitting down and completing a timed past paper will help you see what information you've retained and tell you how much time you may need to spend on that particular topic. Previously, approving documents meant downloading them from the government site and printing them. Fortunately, a smart person decided to help by putting the paperwork into a handy app. You no longer have to sacrifice trees to get good grades. PaperMate has installed over 2000 documents and notes, and it's completely free. It lets you choose your topics so you don't have to go through all the ones on offer just to find the ones you're going to take.