Top 3 Life-Saving Browser Extensions for the College Student
Becoming a professional really begins before graduation. You have to start applying for jobs, making connections with those in the industry, and creating that perfect resume, and in most cases, this involves the Internet. You need to be able to navigate your way around the web quickly and efficiently so you can work on finding a job while still finishing that final term paper. This is made much easier if you have the right browser extensions.
For those who are unfamiliar, there are really three different terms that are sometimes grouped together when discussing browser shortcuts and functionalities:
- Extension: Extensions add new features to a browser. An example of an extension would be a pop-up blocker. Extensions generally do not cross over into different browsers. In other words, downloading a Firefox extension would not work if you were using Google Chrome.
- Add-on: This term refers to little pieces of code, or what look like little buttons, that are added onto a browser’s toolbar to help give you shortcuts to certain online programs. For example, I have a Buffer add-on that allows me to schedule tweets quickly and easily. Add-ons are usually browser-specific, so an add-on that works on Firefox will like not work if you’re using Chrome.
- Plug-in: Term used when referring to third-party software that enables you to interact with a certain program. A common plugin would be Adobe Flash Player or QuickTime to play videos.
Whether you realize it or not, you likely have some sort of extension, add-on, and plug-in installed to your browser. The reason that these terms are so often used interchangeably is that installing each is very similar. All you need to do is Google whatever is it you want to add to your browser, and you’ll be taken straight to the page you need. Whether it’s an add-on or plug-in really doesn’t matter to the average user.
Top 3 Extensions for the College Student
As a recent college graduate, I know that college students often take what they can get. Anything to make that term paper go faster and anything to make the weekend come sooner is accepted on a college campus. The following extensions help make this possible:
- Strict Workflow – This extension helps a student focus on the task at hand. It allows you to set a timer and either block certain sites or allow only certain sites to be used during that block of time. This keeps students away from Facebook, Twitter, and reading about the latest football injuries. This extension works with Google Chrome.
- DownThemAll! – Students are often downloading a large number of programs and documents on a computer. This extension accelerates these downloads by up to 4 times, can download multiple parts of a file, and can pause files without losing data. This is a Firefox add-on.
- Memorize! – This is probably one of the coolest browser extensions I have found. A student can enter a list of questions that he/she needs to study, and then the extension will have these questions pop up throughout the day while you’re surfing the Internet. The questions will stop when you get them all right or when you manually stop the extension.
There are thousands of different extensions that could potentially benefit a college student. Different fields of study require different tools to help, but the extensions above seem to work great for every college student in need of a little assistance.
It is also important to realize that if you come across an extension that works for one browser, there is usually an almost identical extension for the other browsers.
Do you have a favorite browser extension that helps you in school? Share the link with us in the comments!
Amanda DiSilvestro is the Editor-in-chief for Plan, Write, GO. She has been writing about all things digital marketing, both as a ghostwriter, guest writer, and blog manager, for over 10 years. Check out her blogging services to learn more!