Do you have 14 things worth spending money on? Enough money to pay a full ride to college? Probably not. Okay, most of us cannot pay but we do know 14 things worth spending money on. It would be very hard to go to a modern university or college and study without a computer. Most courses require that you submit work online, and this will mean that it will have to be done in digital formats, creating a big challenge for anyone who doesn’t have their own machine. Thankfully, most people are well aware of this before they set off for their first semester, and this means that they will have a laptop with them. Of course, though, simply having the right machine isn’t enough; you also need to know how to use it. To help you out with this, this post will be giving you a set of invaluable skills which can be used to make your computer benefit your education.
Your Operating System
The operating system on your computer is very important. The most common of these tools are MacOS and Windows, with millions of machines around the world using them. They both look and feel very different from one another, and they have a host of unique features which can make your studies a lot easier. Simple things, like calendars and scheduling apps, can be incredibly useful, and won’t take any extra effort to use. Understanding these will make it a lot easier to handle your workload without having to carry around loads of paper.
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Learning these skills can be done on the web, though you will have to be a little creative with what you’re searching for. Think about the problems you have with your studies, and see if you can find anything which will be able to help you. It will also be worth getting some general knowledge about your operating system, as this will help if it ever has any problems, and you can read this Catalina guide to get yourself started. It’s well worth going down this route, though a lot of people ignore it and struggle to use their machines.
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The Cloud
Losing work is one of the worst things that can happen to a student, and this happens all the time. Just imagine that you’ve spent the last six hours working on your latest assignment. You get up to go to the toilet, at which time your computer decides to update, restarting itself without giving you an opportunity to save what you’ve been doing. Cloud software options take this concern away entirely, with tools like Google docs saving your documents as you make changes to them, and always having a version which is up to date.
The benefits of the cloud go further than this, as it also lets you access your work from just about anywhere. This can save a lot of stress when you’re forced to work away from home or your computer is having issues, while also providing you with a perpetual backup of everything you’ve been working on. Google offers everything a student could possibly need for free, and you only need to sign up for a Gmail account to be able to use it all. Tools like this are getting more and more popular, and it makes sense to put some time into learning about them.
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System Health
Not a lot of people realise quite how big of an impact time can have on their computer. If you use your machine for years without ever cleaning it or tidying things up, you will find that it runs a lot slower than it used to. This isn’t because the hardware inside has gotten any worse, it’s because it is having to deal with loads of rogue applications running in the background. Overcoming this sort of issue can take some work, though most people have no idea what they need to do. Of course, you could always take your machine to a computer store to have it sorted out, though this will be expensive.
Instead, handling the problem yourself can be the best option. If you have a lot of applications, viruses, and other issues with your machine, simply resetting the operating system can be a good way to get over this. You will want to backup your important files beforehand, followed by using the built-in reset features found in both Windows and MacOS. If it isn’t quite this bad, simply removing software and stopping applications from loading on startup will make the machine faster. Having a slow computer can make studying very frustrating.
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The System Itself
Finally, as the last area to consider, it’s time to think about the machine itself. Some computers aren’t slow because they are clogged up, instead performing badly because they simply have low-powered hardware. It’s worth spending a little bit of money on the computer you use, though you don’t have to buy something top of the line, as there are plenty of capable machines on the market which will run most software. The most intensive applications which are used by consumers are video games, and you won’t need them for your studies.
When choosing a computer, it’s worth thinking about the budget you have to stick to. Some people will be able to afford something new, while others may have to get something second hand. Thankfully, there are loads of sites around the web which evaluate the price to performance ratio of the machines which are on the current market. This can give you an insight into a laptop’s true value. Of course, along with this, you could also spend a little bit of time learning about the hardware inside your computer, giving yourself the skills to choose upgrades and assess the options you have.
With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take on the challenge of your computer and its role in your education. A lot of people struggle with this, finding it hard to know what needs to be done when their computer is making it hard to study. Of course, though, with all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to take control of this side of your life.
Read more education articles at ClichéMag.com
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