New-age exam tools: Apps, dedicated sites

MUMBAI: Past paper sets, extra classes and the school topper’s secret notes are a few of the things that all students bank on as they prep for board exams or entrance tests. Now, a new dimension has been added to study tools in the form of multiple mobile applications, websites and social media groups that help students during exams and admissions.
Educational applications have endowed students with new tools with which they can get their doubts cleared, understand basic concepts, and assess themselves on online.
Niyoti Dhond, a Class X student, recently used the Robomate app created by a tutorial chain. “The app is like a 24x7 teacher. The animated lectures provide extra knowledge,” she said. The app has video tutorials for various courses such as board exams, JEE, CAT and several other competitive tests that students can avail of at a cost.
A recent survey of over 2,500 Indian students conducted by Brainly, a peer-to-peer learning community, stated that children appear to rely on parents while struggling with doubts; 35% of parents visit online learning sites to teach their children.
Apps have also been useful in various competitive exams that students focus on right after their boards. “Through these apps, the best professors who have an expertise in their respective subjects come together. We have an option to choose whose lessons we will go through,” said Jaishree Meharchandani who used the app ‘Unacademy’ to prepare for SSC-CHSL, which is a government recruitment exam. Students use several websites to follow admission schedules, requirements and processes for higher education.
The biggest plus of the digital learning space, say students, is the possibility of getting their doubts solved at their pace and learning capacity. “Since I didn’t go for any coaching class, the only way I could clear my doubts was through school teachers. It was impossible for teachers to be available 24x7 and hence the apps and websites worked for me. People would post their doubts on these apps, which would help others become aware of the issues too,” said Vir Bhansali who secured an All India Rank 3 in the recent ICSE exam. Vir used sites such as Meritnation and apps such as Duolingo and Respaper.
It isn’t just commercial ventures that are helping students and parents. For instance, each year at Santacruz’s R N Podar School, all Class XII students form a Facebook group, which is used to share resources throughout the year. Similarly, multiple WhatsApp groups of parents of students who are preparing for medical entrances handhold one another through the process.
Sudha Shenoy, mother of a medical student and a few others are available to wards of aspirants to help them with the admission process, understand rules and share resources. “We had a pre-NEET seminar 45 days before the exam to help prep and now will host a seminar for the admission process since there are several new rules each year that parents might not be aware of,” she said.