The term education is used to mean programs of learning with general objectives relating to the personal development of the learner and his/her acquisition of knowledge. Formal education takes place in a structured and taught manner normally in schools or other educational institutions.

But when it comes to actual education and training benefits, questions arise: what do we understand by the term ‘benefits’ and equally contentious how can these be measured?  There are lakhs of candidates appearing for competitive examinations like IAS every year and all in the hope of cracking these exams. But the only available resources in the market most candidates think they have are books or guides relating to examination subjects.

But in this world where technology is taking a step further every day, Education has also found a new resource in the form of educational apps. These educational apps are replacing books with moving animations, colourful pages, interactive videos and educational games.

Interactive learning

Interactive learning modules are small web applications which provide an environment where students interact with the learning activity and learn by watching the animation or visual information. This type of learning can be very beneficial for candidates as people tend to remember or recollect information better when it is acted out. Social aspects like these help students to learn the course without the stigma of learning attached to it which results in better retention of course material.

Entertaining content

The content if written in an entertaining manner causes better engagement with the students which in turn makes the course material have a better chance of comprehension. The apps also have a game like flow to them which causes a healthy competitive spirit to develop in students. Parents also don’t need to provide them any incentive for studying as most of our guardians did as the learning app’s themselves holds their attention.

Round the clock availability

Schools and tuition classes have a set limit of time attached to them (Duh!) and fail to satisfy the need of students when it is most necessary to them. A study shows that students lose interest in a topic if they have doubts regarding it and it’s not solved in the next half hour or so. Such behaviour causes lots of topics in a subject to be left for a later day, and it's a day that never comes.

Portability

Multitasking has become a part of everyday life given the hardships of the common man, people who work and study at the same time will find it out hard to carry heavy books with them everywhere they go making it a burden. Educational Apps, on the other hand, are accessible on phones and tablets which are portable and can be carried anywhere and anytime. This not only saves the unnecessary waste of energy but also time.

Testing what you have learned

Preparatory tests are a part of every student’s study program, and they generally tend to struggle while working alone. It can be hard when there is no one around make some questions from the topics that have been covered. Educational Apps can be very useful in this situation as they prepare a test, picking questions from say, your UPSC syllabus you have covered. This can be very engaging and interesting as you can learn from your mistakes and there is no chance of you cheating.