Flashcarding 21st Century Style

A new way to Flashcard

I remember studying vocabulary the old-fashioned way. You buy a stack of 5 x 3 index cards, write the word on the blank side and your definition and notes on the other side.

Then you would stare at the word, quiz yourself and then flip it over to confirm whether you were right. The words and terms you memorized went in one stack, while the tougher ones went into another stack for further study.

Like many things old school, this now exists electronically. And no application or web site I have found is better than Quizlet.

Set up

After signing up by creating a unique ID or signing in with your Facebook or Google+ account, you can create a “set” just like the olden days of using index cards. You have to set the languages first, but Quizlet also offers definitions if you would rather use those and not write your own.

After labeling your set and entering all the words you want to study, you are ready. On the main page you can see and organize all your sets, and after selecting a set it brings you to a study page. If you are using this for in a classroom, you will want to make sure students set their “sets” to “visible for everyone.”  

Flashcards are just that, even with the blank and lined sides. Study these just like you would back in the day. But, of course, this is the 21^st century, and these do more than just offer virtual flashcards. The “learn” page gives you the definition and you write in the word. If spelling is your goal, it has a page for that. But if you’re studying for some sort of vocabulary quiz, you can practice your words using written and multiple choice practice quizzes. 

“Scatter” is a fun feature where you drag definitions to their words, and in “Race” the definition scrolls across the screen and you have to define it correctly before it disappears. This feature has a nice game elements, thus increasing engagement while refining your vocabulary studying.

Helpful for Teacher Features

Of course you can track your progress with all these activities, making for an all-inclusive self-vocabulary-study opportunity.

Naturally, teachers reading this are already salivating at all of these awesome features. I teach at an Intensive English Program where international students study English, so obviously vocabulary is a huge part of what we do, and this is endlessly helpful. But there is much more than just these neat games and features.

For my reading courses, we have common vocabulary, and students study their own set of vocabulary. For the common vocabulary, I create sets and share them with students, and I have them create their own sets and share with me. I can track and access their vocabulary studying, and they can easily access our common words throughout their Quizlet main page. Of course, students can share with each other as well. Thus, Quizlet is much more collaborative and interactive than traditional independent studying web sites and, of course, flashcards.

You are also connected to all users who use Quizlet by searching cards that other people have made public.

Smartphone Application

Like most online things, this is all available on your smartphones through the Quizlet application as well. The app version does not offer all the games available on the Web site, but you can study using flashcards, the study feature, and scatter (here called match). Like the web site version, you can share and create sets and do just about everything I described above.

Quizlet also allows you to buy services to aid your teaching, such as creating classes that allow you to keep more specific records, grades and other monitoring. So far I have not seen the need to purchase this, but you may find it useful.

Some may pine for the old school days of using flashcards, but Quizlet does all that and more, and it is surely more useful and engaging for the 21^st Century learner.