Writing matric? Here’s where to find free study tools

Matric final exams are here, and learners are scrambling to digest the huge amount of work, the pressure and the concomitant result expectations that go along with it.

There are free tools aplenty to help students get to where they need to be without having to fork out for an expensive tutor, according to Teneo Online School Phase Head, Tracey Clayton.

Past papers, Clayton noted, are a treasure trove and that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has years of them stored online, with the marking memos included.

She said more than just learning off the papers should include a bit of drama.

Learners should recreate examination conditions by imposing the same time pressure they will face in the real paper and then critically mark their answers against the official memorandum.

“If you work through them under proper time pressure and then mark yourself against the memo, really honestly, seeing exactly where the marks went, that’s most of what a good tutor would have you doing anyway,” Clayton explained.

Many free tools available to aid study

Learners can also pool their knowledge through small study groups and make better use of the teachers they already have access to.

Instead of approaching a teacher with a broad statement that they don’t understand mathematics, for example, Clayton said learners should identify the exact calculation, concept or question causing difficulty and ask for targeted assistance.

Free resources, including Siyavula and Khan Academy, offer beneficial study materials.

“The free stuff is genuinely good,” Clayton said.

“Past papers, Siyavula, Khan Academy have put material in front of learners that used to be locked behind paying for it.”

But there is another inexpensive study tool that can easily become lost among apps, websites and videos that have become the go-to. It’s the simple pen and paper.

Research has suggested there may be value in going old school and physically writing rather than doing everything on a keyboard.

Once learners have found the material they need online, they can put the phone down and work through it on paper.

Answers can be written without immediately checking the solution, calculations worked through line by line, and diagrams drawn from scratch.

Something as basic as a notebook can also become a running record of questions or concepts that continue to challenge them.

Paper has another practical advantage.

Once a past paper, memo or set of questions has been printed or copied, studying does not depend on a continuous internet connection or having data available for every session.

Online aids only help if you have a device

And this is where Clayton said the abundance of free educational material online runs into a bit of a challenge.

“But it only helps if you’ve got a device, and data, and somewhere quiet to actually sit and work, and for a lot of families here, that’s not a given,” she said.

Free, therefore, does not necessarily mean accessible.

A learner may have access to years of past papers, video lessons and other educational material but still need the device, connectivity and space to make proper use of it.

But again, this does not have to be a lamentable hurdle. Learners with access to Wi-Fi at school, a library or elsewhere can download material for later use.

Friends can share papers or downloaded resources, and a study group can also mean sharing knowledge rather than trying to figure everything out alone.

Clayton said technology has helped narrow the gap between learners who can pay for additional academic support and those who cannot, but it has not eliminated it.

“So it narrows the gap. It doesn’t close it,” she said.

“Access to the device, the data, the quiet corner is just as important as much as the content.”