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Charlotte: Using Digital Tools
Charlotte shares how she uses digital tools in her studies.
We are incredibly fortunate to live in a world where everything is at our fingertips. Access to the internet provides students with opportunities that make our lives easier and our studies more accessible. Since Sixth Form, Google has been my absolute saving grace when I make notes and revise. Throughout my A-Levels, I used Google Docs and Slides to plan essays and write answers to shorter questions. Storing all my notes in Google Drive and having folders per subject and topic was incredibly helpful, especially when staying organised was crucial in the lead-up to exams. Similarly, the best part about Google Software is that it’s completely free, and you can download the apps on your phone. I find this a massive help if I need to check something quickly and don’t want to get my laptop out. It is also majorly beneficial if your laptop dies in a lecture, as you can open Google Docs on your phone and continue to make notes.
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Due to the nature of my degree course, I have not been required to do as much revision as I would have done at A-Level. Yet, I often still find myself a victim of chronic procrastination. One method that has proven successful in combating this has been the Pomodoro Technique, where you study for short, fixed intervals of twenty-five minutes and then take a five-minute break. However, to make the process more engaging, I use Flora, a productivity app that helps you to stay off your phone and focus on your work. The app allows you to modify how long you want to focus and how long you want your breaks to be. The longer you focus, the bigger the tree will grow. There is now even a feature that allows you to put your card details and pledge an amount of money so that if you go on your phone while it’s in focus mode, it will charge your card. Although, this is a feature I will not be partaking in nor would recommend, mainly because I do not have enough belief in myself not to lose a fiver because I got distracted by TikTok.
Incidentally, while I don’t use digital revision tools at University, I do have to frequently source evidence from TV shows, news broadcasts and political speeches. Often, the best places to find these sources are relatively unknown to students when they first arrive, but they are essential to getting good grades. The most accessible and useful resources I have found are:
- Hansard (The official report of all parliamentary debates)
- Box of Broadcasts (A streaming platform that also has an archive of over 2.2 million broadcasts dating back to 1990)
- UN Digital Library (Where you can find records of all UN votes, documents and speeches)
- Nexis (A database that stores newspaper and magazine text)
- Crowdtangle (Tracks content from verified public Instagram and Facebook accounts)
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Here is my best advice for making the most of digital tools:
- There will always be a free version of what you’re looking for.
- Always check what your school or University has subscriptions for before you pay for anything.
- Always look for something that can give you a fun reward – just because we’ve grown up doesn’t mean we don’t need a gold star every now and again.
- Grammarly is not always right – check what changes it has made before you submit anything.
Written by Charlotte, a BA Politics and International Relations student
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Illustrations by Eilidh Muldoon.