I use several devices each day for my personal life and academic study. It starts off with checking my iPhone when I wake up to see what emails I’ve received or if there are any changes to lecture scheduling for the day. I’ll also check my calendar on my phone for the day’s events. If it’s raining (which it has been doing solidly throughout November) I’ll ditch my bike and catch the bus where I’ll pass the time reading either on my kindle or my iPhone. I have the kindle app which transfers all your purchased books onto your phone (if digitally available) however, I prefer the bigger non-back-lit screen on my kindle so tend to read on there instead. I tend to make paper notes in lectures unless the module requires a laptop such as my careers module where we usually look at internet content and carry out activities online.

I do almost all my academic reading on my laptop each week as links are posted by lecturers on the VLE/Study Direct. These links include academic journals, articles, book chapters and sites of interest. The exception to reading on my laptop would be when I need a whole book and want to refer back to certain chapters at my own leisure. I bought 2 core books for one of my modules and one, “Geographies of Exclusion” (David Sibley), is available digitally, so I have the paper copy and a copy to read on my kindle/phone as well.

Screenshot of David Sibley’s book on my phone.

I access the VLE/Study direct on my phone via the SussexMobile app which is extremely useful for checking my email on the go. It’s also really good for gaining quick information such as where I need to be or an email address to contact my lecturer.

SussexMobile app.

Generally I don’t use the app for any more than that as the screen is too small for me to do my weekly readings or to check module feedback. For a longer session I will access the VLE on my laptop or a library computer/Chromebook. I have found the introduction of borrowing a library Chromebook for the day really useful, especially if I arrive at peak times.

Dell Chromebook.

I’m using one now to write this blog as I cycled in today and didn’t want to carry a heavy laptop in my bag to my classes. Speaking of which I had better return this, check my SussexMobile app and hurry along to my next seminar!