Getting students signed up for free Quizlet user accounts (false start!)

In the week before our first computer lab meeting, I had the bright idea to have my Freshman English students signed up for free Quizlet accounts using their smart phones.  Bad idea.  Even though they have used the website or app before on their smart phones, it did not go well at all.  

One reason is that the app language is in English, so it was not easy for them to understand what to do. Some were signing up using their Facebook accounts, and some created new accounts with usernames and passwords.  Trying to monitor 24 students doing all this at the same time was quite stressful and not very effective.

And slow cell phone signals and wifi in classroom caused some smart phones to jam up.

I quickly realized that  trying to do it this way was a bad idea, so we stopped right there and then and moved on.  

The takeaway is to do it in a computer lab, very slowly and clearly, leading them through the process on the Quizlet website.  Another option would be to use my smart phone mirrored up on the TV screen.

Recruit a student helper

In my efforts to introduce SRS flashcard systems and smartphones into the classroom, I found the recruiting a student helper is invaluable.

The key is to identify someone who seems technogically savvy and work with the student individually, either in or out of class, to ensure a solid understanding of what you are trying to do.

Often, that student will be the one who finishes earlier than the rest of the students in the early steps of implementing the systems.   You can use that extra time, waiting for the other students to catch up, to train your helper.

Once the student is on board, he or she can serve as your lieutenant, helping other students troubleshoot problems in their native language.  You can also discuss or solve potential problems with this student before they occur on w larger scale in class.

One small victory for SRS!

Today, in one of my classes, IT finally happened...

In our first meeting the week before, I introduced SRS studying on smartphones to the tiny class of four students.  The one Android smartphone student dowloaded the AnkiDroid app, and the two iPhone students downloaded the Flashcard Elite app.  The non-smartphone student used my netbook to create an Ankiweb account.  Quickly, they started making their own cards from the class material.

In class today, we spent some time practicing correct usage.  I put a Anki deck of class materials up on the television and quizzed an individual student.  Then I asked the other two students to play the role of teacher and evaluate the answer.  Then I asked the answering student to evaluate his or her own answer.  The students really concentrated and seemed to grasp the idea of the importance of honestly evaluating their own answers.

After that, I set them loose to study.  After awhile, I circled around to check on the students' progress.  One of them was busily pecking away at his smartphone, with a piece of paper on his desk that I did not recognize.

"What's that?" I asked.  He replied, "It's my paper from my other English class."

Without my prompting him to, he had created a brand new deck and was making new cards to study.

I swear, I almost hugged him.

That is what I have been trying to do in my class: create empowered and independent users of SRS.

That's one - only three more to go...

Spaced-repetition (SRS) flashcard options for teaching

While I think that studying with the Anki spaced repetition (SRS) flashcard app on a smartphone is ideal, it is often not possible to have all students doing the same thing.  Some students do not have smartphones.  And the Anki app for iPhones is approximately $25 (expensive but completely worth the money in my opinion), while the AnkiDroid app is free.  I feel that I cannot require some students to buy an expensive app while some get the equivalent for free.

One option is to have the students use the Anki website, allowing them to study from any web browsing device.  This is a functional solution to the above problems, but it is not ideal.  The Anki website is not as fast  and easy to use as the Anki app, and, if the students do not have access to the Internet (no cell phone signal or wifi), they cannot study.

As I wrote earlier about an alternative to Anki on the iDevices, I believe that another SRS flashcard app, Flashcard Elite, has potential to be a replacement for Anki.  Users can create and download flashcard decks from Quizlet.com and study on their smartphones.  I would not recommend that students study on the Quizlet website itself because, as far as I can tell, it does not use SRS.

So, with my goal being to find a way where as many students as possible can benefit from an SRS flashcard app on a smartphone, here is my current plan for this semester:

Students without smartphones

These students will create Anki website accounts and create a deck of flashcards via the website in class once a week.  On other days, these students will work with a partner who has a smartphone.  Using their partners' smartphones, they will access their accounts via the web and then hand the smartphone back to the owners.  Those students will then quiz the non-smartphone students on their decks.

Students with Android smartphones

These students will download the AnkiDroid app to their smartphones.  Then, they will create Anki website accounts and sync (connect) accounts to the smartphone app.  After they create decks of cards via the website in class, their decks of cards will be downloaded to the smartphone app.  On other days, these students will work with a partner in the same manner above, except that the studying will be through the Anki app, not the Anki website.

Students with iPhones

These students will download the Flashcard Elite app to their smartphones.  Then, they will create Quizlet accounts and create decks of cards via the Quizlet website in class.  After that, they will access Quizlet from the Flashcard Elite app and download their decks.  On other days, these students will work with partners in the same manner above, except that the studying will be through the Flashcard Elite app.

Please understand that this is a work in progress and subject to change.  It will create more work for the teacher in terms of the logistics of teaching with SRS, but I feel it is worth the effort.

I would really appreciate any feedback about what I have proposed.  Please feel free to leave a comment or question!

Introducing digital SRS flashcards to the classroom

At  Teaching with Anki, I write about Day 1 of introducing Anki, a spaced repetition, flashcard program, to my first year English students.

On a side note, I plan to start transitioning all my writing about Teaching with Anki to this website.

A good (maybe), free SRS smartphone app

In trying to find ways to incorporate smartphones into the classroom, I have been experimenting a great deal with spaced-repetition system (SRS) flashcard apps.  Since I am a heavy user of the Anki program/app and know it well, it has been the main focus of my classroom efforts for the last two years.

However, due to the cost, I cannot require my students to buy the Anki app.  Instead, the students have been using the Anki website to create and study cards.  It is not an ideal solution but a functional one.

Recently, I have been looking for alternatives to Anki.  Unfortunately, many of the free apps leave something to be desired.

However, just the other day, on an excellent website called Flashcard apps for for iPhone & iPad, I discovered a distinct possibility called Flashcard Elite.

I have only downloaded it today and am trying a JLPT N2 (Japanese level 2) deck.  So far it looks pretty good!  I'll report more later after I've used it some more...