While some students may use their smartphone apps to play games or surf Facebook, some companies are trying to convince them to use their phones as study devices.
Companies such as Watermelon Express and Kaplan have developed applications that help students prepare for standardized tests, including graduate exams such as the MCAT, LSAT and GREs. But students, who seem to use their phones for nearly everything else, have been slow to utilize these tools.
Jeff Olson, Kaplan’s vice president of research who specializes in test preparation, said integration is the most important aspect of developing educational apps.
“Students want apps to fit with things they’re doing, so our job is to find ways to make it fit into their lives,” Olson said. “Students often put away technology when they study because they see it as windows to distraction. The most important thing is to make the apps fit in to part of their routine and make it something they can work in when they’re on the go. It needs to supplement what they are learning, in a way they can do in short bursts. Students are usually not interested in apps for apps’ sake.”
That is what Watermelon Express is striving for.
Founded in 2009, Watermelon Express is an up-and-coming company that makes and distributes educational apps with help from industry veterans and publishers. Kaplan, on the other hand, began developing mobile apps for platforms such as the Palm in the late 1990s, according to Olson, and have been making apps ever since.
However, students at this university seem reluctant to let go of the tried-and-true method: test-prep books.
“The study method I personally use it the guide that Barron’s makes,” said senior English major Erika Harding, who just took the Praxis I education test for the master’s in teaching graduate program last weekend. “I personally learn best when I have to physically write out what I am studying rather than using technology.”
Senior art major Maggie Rossetti expressed a similar view.
“I learn best when I’m holed up in my room by myself,” Rossetti said.
“When I was taking the tests for the GRE, I just bough a Kaplan book and just practiced out of that,” graduate student Omar Ayyub wrote in an email. “I also used the Kaplan website to do practice tests.”
According to Watermelon Express’ website, more than 75,000 students have signed up to use its products.
“Technology can be very helpful to those that learn and respond well to computer applications,” Harding said. “I would consider using those. However, I’m pretty old school, and I learn best when the pen hits the paper.”
Several students pointed to the possibility for distractions as the biggest barrier to the studying process while using computers or other multipurpose devices.
“I know that personally, self-control on the computer can be tough,” Rossetti said. “I have to block some programs, such as Facebook, in order to study. But if the app or program is really engaging and will make me focus on the app, then it can really help and aid in learning.”
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