Apps We Love - Education Edition - CPA Practice Advisor

We all have stories about how information we find on the internet makes us laugh, makes us groan, makes us cry, keeps us more engaged with each other. Some call it information overload. We call it living. We love sharing apps that seem to make our lives more complete, and of course everyone has a different definition of what that means, so each month, we bring you a different collection of intriguing apps, contributed by our ever-growing community of technology savvy members of the accounting profession.

This month we are focusing on apps that further our education. We surveyed our 40 Under 40 Class of 2015 along with members of the Thought Leader Symposium, and here is a sample of what we discovered.

Elizabeth Pittelkow, CPA, CITP, CGMA, DTM, director of accounting and compliance with ArrowStream, recommends Duolingo (free). “I took several years of Spanish classes while in school, but I have not used Spanish often enough since then to feel confident in it. I use this app to refresh my Spanish skills. I like this app because the education is in the form of games. I play the games during my commutes and when I am waiting in lines.”

Mathew Heggem, CEO of SUM Innovation, and Donny Shimamoto, managing director of Intraprise TechKnowlogies LLC, agree. “Duolingo is great for new languages, I got 30% fluent in Spanish (according to the app) in about 10 weeks using that,” said Shimamoto.

Kerri Gibson, vice president, small professional, at Wolters Kluwer, CCH Small Firm Services shared two favorites with us. Babbel: “Since I now live in a place where English is not the first language my current learning adventure is French. This is not easy to squeeze into an already packed schedule. With the Babbel app I can grab a quick lesson anytime I have a few spare moments so learning ce n’est rien!” Wikipedia: “I love the ability to be able to learn about anything at any time. Especially when traveling I am obsessive about learning as much history and culture of a location as possible. So I am constantly wiki’ing for information. I like it because it is so easy to use, has a wealth of information, and gives me fun facts to squeeze into a conversation. “

Pittelkow also uses Grammar Girl Podcast (free) and Grammar Girl App (ad-free). “I listen to the Grammar Girl Podcast through Apple’s Podcasts App; people can download the Grammar Girl App for no ads. I am a big grammar person; this podcast helps keep my grammar skills sharp in language and writing, and it helps me to develop the skills of others.

Rick Richardson, CPA.CITP, CGMA, managing partner at Richardson Media & Technologies, sings the praises of online learning platform Lynda.com. “It is the best on-line training resource I use on a regular basis. Cost per year is $275 for the regular membership and $375 for the premium membership (includes streaming and copies of all the example files).” A free 10 day trial is available.

Kahn Academy comes highly recommended by Richardson, “As they say, you can learn anything for free. Particularly technical topics, software, math, science are the best!“ and also Jim Bourke, CPA.CITP, CFF, CGMA, who commented, “There is no comparison with any other learning tool. Math, science, economics, finance…. You get it all and you get it for FREE!”

Leslie Shiner, owner of The ShinerGroup, subscribes to podcasts from the HowStuffWorks app. “I particularly enjoy Stuff You Should Know as well as Stuff you Missed in History Class. With my busy schedule, I don’t have time to take classes. But I do have time to listen to podcasts while driving, traveling or taking a walk. The podcasts are interesting and teach me lots of “stuff”! And if there’s something I’m not thrilled about, I can just skip it and move on to the next one.

Adam Burnett, director of sales engineering at Wolters Kluwer, is also a fan of HowStuffWorks. “I’m the type of person that loves to know a little (or a lot) about everything. When a good friend of mine turned me on to the HowStuffWorks app, it was a perfect match. Essentially it’s a collection of articles, podcasts and videos on an incredible array of topics that range from science to history, pop-culture to technology and everything in-between. Reading it on airplanes, listening to the podcasts while I mow the yard, I’m always on it and always learning something interesting.”

David Cieslak, CPA.CITP, GSEC, principal with Arxis Technology, recommends TED Talks, iTunes U, and Stitcher for streaming educational content on demand.

If you enjoy the arts and want to learn more, Gary Boomer, visionary and strategist of Boomer Consulting, Inc., recommends you check out Art Authority by Open Door Networks, Inc. for the iPhone and iPad – $4.99 and worth more. It’s like a museum on your mobile device.”

And don’t forget YouTube. Brian Friedman, CPA.CITP, northeast division sales manager, software, at Wolters Kluwer, stated, “For almost any topic you might be interested in there are videos put together by experts in every field imaginable.”