While students still need to lug around textbooks for their respective classes and likely carry their laptops with them to take detailed notes during class, sometimes the load becomes a bit heavy for the average college student, who begins to resemble a hunchback from the bulging contents of their stuffed backpacks.
In our modern age where various Android smartphones are tucked in pockets, purses and 
pouches of a large majority of college students, it’s a gift that they’re capable of storing so much content to help the college student. Not unlike backpacks, Androids are ready to be stuffed to the gills with handy apps to help students in the learning process. Thankfully, though, smartphones’ storage space is far more efficient and lightweight for the carrier than the backpack. Students can carry full access to an unabridged dictionary, a set of encyclopedias, math and science support, and so much more to make their days of full course loads much easier, at least on their backs.
Below are 5 Android apps that may come in quite handy for busy college students.
Evernote
Evernote is the king of note-taking support for college students on the go. This free Android app can help students keep track of their endless barrage of notes. Students can easily organize and maintain audio file notes, scanned notes, to-do lists, calendar entries, pictures, and other types of files by creating the proper tags and storing notes in the appropriate locations. Students can synchronize their critical notes between their Android phone, their netbook, laptop or any other devices where they may need to store the class information.
Grammar Guide
Students – particularly liberal arts students who do a lot of writing – shouldn’t be caught without a solid guide to grammar at their disposal and this one will do the trick. At under a dollar, Grammar Guide can help any student with pronunciation, usage or capitalization.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
No student wants to haul around a huge dictionary from class to class. On the other hand, no student wants to come up short on the meaning of English words that are unfamiliar to them. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary app also features a list of synonyms and antonyms for each word, so the dictionary also serves as a makeshift thesaurus.
WikiDroid for Wikipedia
With Wikipedia being the go-to source in online encyclopedic information, at least as a starting point for a student’s research before they hit the library, the WikiDroid allows students an app portal to the information database for quick and easy loading without the lag of the Internet-based page.
WolframAlpha
For students who are naturally curious and hear an arcane reference in passing or are perplexed by something the professor mentions that isn’t easily found in the textbook, the WolframAlpha app may help. The student can enter various dates or facts and this app can dig up ancillary information to help students find answers.
These are just five of the hundreds of student-centric apps available for Android smartphones—and while a smartphone can’t replace a textbook or a bookbag, it can be the perfect complement to your college toolbox.
Joseph Baker’s business experience in management spans more than 15 years. A leader of development and management teams, he also implemented budget reductions professionally and as an independent contractor. Joseph led strategic planning and systems of implementation for nine organizations, public and private, and worked extensively with small businesses. His education background ranges from teaching to school administration.