It might be true that university life is nothing like it was 15 years ago. The Internet has overhauled how our academic life is now experienced; from Wikipedia to Massive Open Online Courses, our academic performance and potential are ever-growing. But as scientists and IT specialists delve deeper into how university students can make the most of their academic potential, new ideas in the form of apps and online platforms are coming into being, to make student life a bit easier and perhaps a lot more bearable.

Sumpto

As with any social group, some people tend to be more popular than others. The Sumpto developer, a 2011 graduate by the name of Kosinksi, conceptualized a way he could take advantage of university-level student popularity. Sumpto is fundamentally a point-collecting platform that allows students to collect rewards and ultimately have brands and other commercial companies shower them with free samples, discount promotions, deals and promotions on yet to be released products. Not too shabby, right?

Those students that gather certain amounts of rewards by connecting their Facebook, Twitter and other accounts with Sumpto are then given prizes in form of free promotions and exclusive deals. Similar social influence platforms already exist, but Sumpto is the first to solely target college students.

Sumpto is a digital tool which even though it steers away from the educational aspect of universities, it offers a great way of enjoying one’s popularity in a persistently tangible manner.

Ultimate Typing™

You write assignments and mid-term essays, you tweet and Facebook a lot, you text with your smartphone, all day and especially all night.

Students and younger adults tend to spend a lot of their time tapping on keys, be it on laptops, PCs or smartphones. This makes it very clear that poor typing skills can lead to extra hours in front of a laptop or computer. And if we are to be honest, university life is not meant solely for indoor activity.

Software like Ultimate Typing™ is designed to effortlessly and easily improve typing speed and accuracy, thus saving many typing hours for students. With a scientifically designed structure and a research-based approach informed by the latest methodology on efficient typing technologies, the software offers students the opportunity to get the skill of accurate, lightning fast typing.

Piazza.com

Forums and discussion boards are the most popular Q&A platforms students use to ask and answer questions, and learn information pertaining to their classes. Today one company is attempting to entirely replace these outdated Q&A platforms with a more streamlined and efficient platform: piazza.com.

Piazza.com is already used by renowned universities including MIT, Berkeley, and Stanford and its popularity is ever-growing as more people realize its usefulness in the educational realm. Piazza allows people to ask and explore different aspects of their classes, to ask or answer questions, and provide their own notes to help other students with their studying or assignments.

The platform functions like a forum where a class is created and then pertinent questions are asked. People have the chance to explore different replies, provide their own reactions, and overall contribute actively in the understanding  and dissemination of knowledge outside the class.