Technology and education have been merging for some time now, as companies like LeapFrog continue to develop educational games and toys.
Among such technologies that are working to assimilate into daily life is the iPhone.
With the variety of applications available for download, people can use the iPhone to listen to MP3 files, call a friend, take Facebook quizzes and even practice Spanish vocabulary before the big test.
Several education-based applications have emerged recently in hopes of helping students be successful in class as well as providing a break from studying.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has acknowledged the educational aspect of the iPhone and iPod touch, and some students have been able to take advantage of these scholarly apps for classroom purposes.
The UNL Honors Program offers a freshman honors seminar called Technology and the Creative Scholar. Taught by Brian Moore, an associate professor in the school of music, the class provides all the students with an iPod touchfor the semester.
Cale Hadan, a freshman computer science major, is one of the few that managed to land a spot in this class.
"I love that we get to use iPod touches for class," he said. "They're actually really helpful. There are spell-checking apps and math formula apps. … It's a lifesaver sometimes."
Other students are also taking advantage of iPhone applications. Brock Weeldreyer, a sophomore chemical and biomolecular engineering major, said he uses Evernote, a note-taking app, all the time.
"I love Evernote," Weeldreyer said. "I can just take a picture of my handout, and it's automatically stored on my iPhone and computer. That way I don't have to carry it around all over the place."
Whether or not a student plans on using the iPhone for educational purposes, having the academic apps as a backup is always a good plan, Hadan said.
"When I'm way too lazy to look up a formula, I can just pull it up on my iPod Touch," he said. "That's a lot of value right there, especially when there are 100 kids in your math class and not a lot of time to ask questions."
With more than 85,000 iPhone applications to choose from, students have a number of options when looking for tools to help them study:
myHomework – This app resembles a notebook or planner and operates in the same way. It is a simple-to-use program that allows the user to keep track of homework, projects and tests. It also notifies users when certain projects are due and labels the late homework that has yet to be turned in.
Evernote – A multiple-award-winning app, Evernote allows users to create note lists for separate classes. The note lists consist of snapshots, voice recordings and typed-out information the user wants to associate with a specific list.
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