- Publish Date: 2012/02/09 - (Rev. 2016/06/11)
- Author: Jessica Bosari
Outline: Several helpful Apps for students with special needs attending college including class schedules note taking and audio recordings of notes.
There are lots of blog posts describing good Mac applications for students; the Tired Donkey has done you Apps to Keep Your Computer Healthy The Tired Donkey submits that all the work you do preparing Have a great time in college. And feel free to include whatever additional apps you find.
Main Digest
Making the transition from high school to college can be a challenge for any student, but for students with special needs, it can be like waking up and finding yourself on another planet.
App - Also known as Application software or simply application, is defined as computer software designed to help the user to perform singular or multiple related specific tasks. Mobile applications run on hand-held devices such as mobile phones (cell phones), personal digital assistants, and enterprise digital assistants.
These students are fortunate to be attending school at a time when they have more rights and opportunities available than ever before, both in the form of laws intended to help them receive the assistance they need to succeed. And now, apps for smartphones and tablets offer even more help.
Special Needs Challenges
'Special needs' is an all-encompassing term that covers a variety of challenges and disabilities, all of which have their own unique difficulties. Students with autism spectrum disorders may have trouble with working in teams or managing time appropriately. Students with dyslexia have the challenge of coping with a pile of reading material and papers to write.
A student in a wheelchair requires access to facilities including classrooms and on-campus housing. In previous years, these students might have slipped through the cracks, been slapped with a 'failure' label and quietly dropped out, never realizing their true potential.
Legal Rights for Students with Special Needs
Now, legislation exists that helps students with special needs receive equal access to education. Regardless of whether students plan to go to traditional four-year universities or specialized vocational education programs such as criminal justice schools, they have more opportunities than ever before.
Some of the legal rights include:
- Appropriate academic adjustments in order to avoid discrimination
- Acceptance to a program based on admission requirements, regardless of disability
- Accessible facilities
- Priority enrollment arrangements
- Course load reduction
An enrollment specialist can be especially helpful navigating the rights and responsibilities of college students with special needs. And as technology advances, new applications are being developed that help special needs students learn with less assistance, allowing them to better navigate college life.
- Penultimate is an app that makes taking lecture notes easy by using a stylus. The notes can then be organized for easy access later. While not helpful for those with fine-motor-skill challenges, this is a great app for students with attention deficit disorder or other disabilities that cause difficulties staying organized.
- Notes Plus is another note-taking app that blends the audio-recordings of notes with typed notes and handwritten notes. This app has a number of benefits for students with learning disabilities, such as the ability to 'recognize' shapes and a blow-out window that allows students to write as large as necessary and then shrinks the text down to fit within the rest of the notes.
- Audionote is extremely helpful for students who struggle with taking notes and can actually train a student to improve that ability. It records both the lecture and written notes in real time, synching up the written notes with the audio of the lecture. This prevents students from trying to remember which formula or illustration goes with which part of the lecture, and it keeps notes in their proper order.
- iStudiez Pro organizes class schedules, assignments and deadlines to help students stay on top of things. Keeping up with a college schedule and class load is challenging for anyone. Students with attention difficulties or autism spectrum disorders will find that iStudiez Pro is a great aid for dealing with this especially difficult aspect of college.
Students with disabilities are making great strides in acquiring the rights and privileges every person should have. The Criminal Justice Blog helps students find online criminal justice programs, making education easier to attain for those with disabilities.
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The iProcrastinate app works with class filters, step-by-step tracking and repeating schedules.
updated 8/11/2012 4:37:47 PM ET2012-08-11T20:37:47
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We recently put together our list of the best Mac apps, but college students need different tools. If you snagged a shiny new Mac with one of those student discounts, here are the apps to load it up with before you hit that first class.
Productivity
Syncing Note Taker: Notational Velocity
Notational Velocity is a fantastic Simplenote client on Mac. Simplenote is a great way to keep all your class notes synchronized and stored in one place so you always have access to them.
Price: Free
Syncing Note Taker: Notational Velocity
Notational Velocity is a fantastic Simplenote client on Mac. Simplenote is a great way to keep all your class notes synchronized and stored in one place so you always have access to them.
Price: Free
Note and Idea Capture: Evernote
Evernote is an excellent resource for students to capture everything they have going on in class. If you need a little inspiration for how to use Evernote, Shep McAllister's guest post on the Evernote blog outlines a lot of ways you can use Evernote in school, including taking snapshots of notes, blackboards, organizing research, and more.
Price: Free
Evernote is an excellent resource for students to capture everything they have going on in class. If you need a little inspiration for how to use Evernote, Shep McAllister's guest post on the Evernote blog outlines a lot of ways you can use Evernote in school, including taking snapshots of notes, blackboards, organizing research, and more.
Price: Free
To-Do: iProcrastinate
iProcrastinate isn't a to-do manager specifically designed for college students, but it might as well be. It works with class filters, step-by-step tracking and repeating schedules. However, if iProcrastinate doesn't look like it'll fit your needs, be sure to check out Wunderlist.
Price: Free
iProcrastinate isn't a to-do manager specifically designed for college students, but it might as well be. It works with class filters, step-by-step tracking and repeating schedules. However, if iProcrastinate doesn't look like it'll fit your needs, be sure to check out Wunderlist.
Price: Free
Homework Management: iHomework
Sometimes it's easiest for a student to have an all-in-one life tracking app. In that case, iHomework could come in handy. It features iCal integration for your schedule, as well as a full assignment tracker, reading list, reminders, course info, and easy access to teacher contact information.
Price: 99 cents
Sometimes it's easiest for a student to have an all-in-one life tracking app. In that case, iHomework could come in handy. It features iCal integration for your schedule, as well as a full assignment tracker, reading list, reminders, course info, and easy access to teacher contact information.
Price: 99 cents
Office Suite: Google Docs
Not long ago, students were stuck with Microsoft Office for their office suite, but now that Google Docs has offline editing it's a perfect replacement to Office for most students. The best part is the fact that it's free, but it also has pretty much everything you need: spreadsheets, presentations, and a document editor. It also stores you documents in the cloud so you never to worry about the horrible just-lost-my-paper panic.
Price: Free
Not long ago, students were stuck with Microsoft Office for their office suite, but now that Google Docs has offline editing it's a perfect replacement to Office for most students. The best part is the fact that it's free, but it also has pretty much everything you need: spreadsheets, presentations, and a document editor. It also stores you documents in the cloud so you never to worry about the horrible just-lost-my-paper panic.
Price: Free
Books: Kindle for Mac
Carrying around textbooks is a huge hassle. Instead, provided your books are available digitally, you can just carry around your computer and access them on your PC. The Kindle app is also a great way to highlight, take notes and share those notes with other classmates.
Price: Free
Carrying around textbooks is a huge hassle. Instead, provided your books are available digitally, you can just carry around your computer and access them on your PC. The Kindle app is also a great way to highlight, take notes and share those notes with other classmates.
Price: Free
Document Backup: Dropbox
We mention Dropbox in our annual Lifehacker Packs, but it's worth noting again for students. Not only is Dropbox a handy place to store all your files, it can also be a lifesaver when you realize you forgot to bring in an assignment. Simply pop into Dropbox, and email the link directly to your professor from any computer.
Price: Free
We mention Dropbox in our annual Lifehacker Packs, but it's worth noting again for students. Not only is Dropbox a handy place to store all your files, it can also be a lifesaver when you realize you forgot to bring in an assignment. Simply pop into Dropbox, and email the link directly to your professor from any computer.
Price: Free
Internet/Communication
Instant Messaging: Adium
Instead of wasting your money on SMS messages for your phone, an easy way to save a little cash in school is to use an instant messaging client. The bonus is that if you're using it on your computer your professor probably won't even realize you're not paying attention.
Price: Free, open source
Instant Messaging: Adium
Instead of wasting your money on SMS messages for your phone, an easy way to save a little cash in school is to use an instant messaging client. The bonus is that if you're using it on your computer your professor probably won't even realize you're not paying attention.
Price: Free, open source
Video Chat: Skype
Whether you just miss your parents, or you want a cheap and free way to talk to friends at other schools, Skype is one of the easiest video chat clients to use. It's also a way to phone-ify your computer so you don't have to wory about an annoying cell phone bill.
Price: Free
Whether you just miss your parents, or you want a cheap and free way to talk to friends at other schools, Skype is one of the easiest video chat clients to use. It's also a way to phone-ify your computer so you don't have to wory about an annoying cell phone bill.
Price: Free
The Extended Pack
Streaming Music: Spotify
You have an abundance of choices for streaming music on your computer, but we're fans of Spotify for its massive collection of songs, and its free radio apps on mobile. Rdio is also worth looking at if Spotify doesn't fit your needs. The point is, with streaming apps you don't have to worry about trying to afford music throughout your college career.
Price: Free
You have an abundance of choices for streaming music on your computer, but we're fans of Spotify for its massive collection of songs, and its free radio apps on mobile. Rdio is also worth looking at if Spotify doesn't fit your needs. The point is, with streaming apps you don't have to worry about trying to afford music throughout your college career.
Price: Free
Secondary Office Suite: LibreOffice
While we generally prefer Google Docs for creating and editing your own documents, that doesn't mean everyone else does. Just to be safe, it's not bad to have an Office suite on your computer, and LibreOffice is nice to have around in case you can't access Google Docs. It's also helpful for when you need advanced formatting options for certain types of assignments.
Price: Free
While we generally prefer Google Docs for creating and editing your own documents, that doesn't mean everyone else does. Just to be safe, it's not bad to have an Office suite on your computer, and LibreOffice is nice to have around in case you can't access Google Docs. It's also helpful for when you need advanced formatting options for certain types of assignments.
Price: Free
Research Assistant: MendeleyKeeping track of research can get really complicated, especially when you're working with a bunch of different documents from your library. Mendeley is an organization tool that helps you keep track of all those PDF files. It also lets you annotate and generates citations on the spot.
Price: Free
Price: Free
f you're looking for more great apps for your Mac beyond what's in our student pack, head to the Lifehacker Pack for Mac.
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