When it comes to time management, technology can be every student’s friend: We’re way past the day and age where whipping out a fully-stocked pencil case on the first day of classes is considered enough of an indicator that you’re on top of things. Plenty of us still prefer the touch and feel of a wirebound planner, but it’s hard to discount the benefits of using technology to manage your time and organize your life when you’re getting back into the groove of the school year. From apps that single-handedly manage your class schedule, teacher contacts and upcoming assignments, to ones that annotate PDFs or create citations for your papers, Business Insider has a list of the 12 best apps to help students stay organized and get the most out of their time in school.

Just like it can be your friend, technology can also be your foe: Before you decide to dedicate too much time studying flashcards from an app, be wary that research has found that allowing smartphones in classes actually leads to a drop in grades. A new study published in the journal Educational Psychology concluded that students who use digital devices in classes perform worse, specifically on exams. "The intrusion of internet-enabled electronic devices (laptop, tablet and cell phone) has transformed the modern college lecture into a divided attention task," according to the study’s findings.