Life at school can be hectic for any student whether they are going to university or college. Amongst the series of textbooks, essay and piles of homework, it can be a challenge to relax and enjoy yourself.
Fortunately, technology today has adapted and grown so much that there are all kinds of helpful gadgets for students. These particular gadgets I’ve listed below are gadgets that’ll help you make studying easier. From being able to write notes efficiently to placing your mind in a more learning-oriented way. Consider adding these to your dorm room.
Kindle Paperwhite
As we know textbooks can be a hassle. They are massive and usually overpriced. That’s not the case if you pick up this handy gadget. For one, you can likely download books for excessively cheaper, but now you’ve changed several 500-page+ textbooks into a convenient lightweight tablet.
While Kindles themselves are about half the price of a textbook, the amount of money you’ll save downloading the several semesters-worth of books will be insane. It’s a great bargain.
Portable Hard Drive
The worst feeling than writing a really long essay is losing it somehow due to technology malfunctions or something else. While we should be backing up our computers and laptops in general, having an extra portable hard drive for your documents never hurts.
From here I suggest the WD 2TB My Passport Wireless. Broadly speaking, this portable hard drive has a few perks for any student. For one, it has a massive storage space to load up several years of university projects. Not only that but you can also use this drive to help in a collaborative effort.
For example, say you’re in a small study group and you occasionally pass notes. This drive removes all of that work by serving as a single spot for people to access and transfer information from. This hard drive can wirelessly connect with up to eight other devices.
LED Desk Lamp
Every desk deserves a stylish and practical lamp. Business know this now as there are all kinds of stylish lamps out there to choose from. Out of the many of them I have two suggestions: The Lifx Mini (which I recommended in a previous post) and the UNIFUN Touch Lamp.
Lifx Mini is nice in that it can light up with various colours to help you study. Not only that it can double as a sort of alarm clock by using the lights to help you wake up. It’s also got a nifty app to help you manipulate the light.
UNIFUN works similar to the Lifx Mini in that it has various colours available. It also has various degrees of brightness too. No matter what, you can easily set it to suit the mood. There’s no app to go with it, but if you want a cheaper and simpler lamp, this is a simple choice.
USB Laptop Backpack
Technology is being integrated into our lives more and more. One key indicator of that is looking at our backpacks. These days, most standard backpacks have USB ports to charge devices while you’re on the move.
Again, I’ve mentioned a few backpacks already, however one other one to consider is the Matein USB Laptop Backpack. It’s available in blue, black, and grey. It’s a slim travel backpack, however has ample room and pockets to store textbooks, other gadgets and more. It’s even got an anti-theft pocket in the back.
Smart Notebook
One debate that has been going on for a while now is whether writing by hand or typing is better for jotting notes. No matter which side you’re on with the debate, a good middle ground is by taking notes via a smart notebook.
I’ve mentioned the smart notebook from Rocketbook before and stand by it. If you love writing and want to use technology at the same time this is the best gadget to use. With this smart notebook, you’ll be able to jot notes and have everything you’re writing down be saved on your preferred cloud-service provider.
On top of that, this option is environmentally friendly and is easier to keep organized too.
Heated Travel Mug
It might not save you study time exactly but it’s still a smart choice if you’re the type of student who drinks coffee or tea in the morning. One travel mug I’ll recommend is the Excalibur 16oz Electronic Travel Cup. Here is what’s cool about it:
- It’ll keep beverages warm for hours thanks to the mug being chargeable via a USB port.
- With a spill-proof lid, you can tip it over by accident and you won’t spill anything on your clothes or work.
- It’s insulated nicely so even when it’s not plugged in, it’ll keep your beverage warm for a while.
Ethernet Cable
College dorms are convenient in some cases but not all the time. Take for example the WiFi capabilities. Sure, the dorms have access to it. But you’ll likely have hundreds of students accessing it all at once making it tricky to do any research or general browsing.
This is where an ethernet cable comes in handy. If you know where the router is located, you can easily hook a cable up and plug the cable into your computer directly.
One cable I’d recommend is the Cat 6 Ethernet cable made by Jadaol. By picking this up, you’re getting 50 feet of cable plus a pack of cable clips. Not only will you have ample cord to work with, but you can keep it organized and out of the way of other students.
Headphones
Headphones today are valuable tools for work. For one, studies have shown that listening to music does make studying easier. Those benefits amplify when you have headphones on.
Now you could go with wired headphones, but wireless headphones have also made some leaps and bounds too. Take the Mpow H5 Headphones. These wireless headphones have noise-cancelling capabilities as well as comfort. Not only can you feel comfortable with these on, but you can block out all kinds of distractions and immerse yourself in work.
Surge Protector
With all these gadgets, the last thing you want to deal with is blowing a fuse by having too many gadgets plugged in at once. To avoid that risk, obviously you want to invest in a power bar, but not some ordinary one.
One recommendation I have is any power bar made by Belkin, specifically the 12-outlet surge protector. Even if you don’t intend to plug 12 gadgets into it, it’s a convenient tool that removes the guesswork. It’s a beast as you can tell by its features:
- Rotating outlets to make it simple for devices to plug into.
- Has over 4,000 joules of energy.
- Has a 6 foot or 8 foot wall-mount to make it easy for any dorm to position this power bar anywhere.
Foldable Keyboard
As prepared as we try to be, sometimes mistakes happen. We forget our laptop or don’t have space in our backpack for it. While most students would panic, if you have a foldable keyboard you can avoid that panic.
Foldable keyboards are incredibly helpful as they are compatible with all majour devices by this point. This ensures that if you need to type something quickly, you can do so via this keyboard and input what you’re type onto your phone or tablet.
Paired with the fact it folds, you can easily pack this into any tight spot. It’s highly efficient.
Fitbit One
Before you say fitness gadgets won’t help studying, there is some truth behind maintaining good health helping students with school. While studying is all about absorbing material, we know that sleeping helps with studying even more. After all, we’re not going to absorb anything if we’re not paying attention at all in class due to sleep deprivation.
While not everyone needs a Fitbit, this particular Fitbit is special. It’s special in that it also works as a sleep tracker. This is helpful as it provides information to the users outlining how much sleep they get but also how well they slept.
This can be valuable information since most people – and especially students – don’t always get the best sleep. This devices helps in developing better sleeping habits overall.
Roku Streaming Stick
Student life isn’t all about studying and cramming information. Sometimes the best form of studying is letting the information muddle in your head for a while. As such, I’m sure most students would turn to catching up on their favourite shows or simply watch Youtube videos.
Whatever the case is, instead of watching it on a laptop, you could always stream it to a TV. At least you can thanks to this nifty gadget. The Roku Stream Stick is portable, can connect with any TV and is built to stream hundreds of channels. Go and enjoy yourself. You deserve it.
Laptop Lap Desk
While sitting at a regular desk is nice, some students prefer sitting in their bed. It can be a huge hassle though having your laptop resting on your sheets. Instead, protect yourself and your laptop by getting a lap desk.
One lap desk I recommend is the LapGear home office lap desk. It’s 17.3 inches long giving you ample room to place your laptop, a mouse, and even has a pocket for your phone. It’s a solid lap desk that’ll help with your posture, and avoid dust build up and heat from your computer.
Selfie Stick
Another aspect of college life is selfies with friends. Even if you’re not a photogenic person a selfie stick still has its uses in other instances. Take the selfie stick from Fugetek for example. It extends up to 49 inches in length and is strong enough to support even a DSLR camera. Best of all it’s pretty cheap.
Tablet
For the student who doesn’t want a laptop or can’t afford one, one solid alternative is a tablet. Tablets today have grown extensively and each large tech company has their own tablets to pick from.
But instead of going out and buying a brand new one, it might be smart to get an older tablet. Here is one article that covers some popular tablets released last year that still are solid choices today.
Helpful Gadgets For Studying
There are all kinds of helpful gadgets to consider that’ll help any student thrive and succeed in school. Consider picking up some of these as a gift for your kid when they head back to school or start digging into their school work this semester.