Digital Flashcards and Study Guides with StudyBlue

I've been using the StudyBlue flashcard app/website for a couple of terms now, mainly as one of the tools I encourage students to use to study vocabulary.  I've found that most of my students are not really sure how to study vocabulary for their classes - not surprising, really, considering that many of them lack college-level study skills. I've always included vocabulary study in my reading classes because I think it's an essential skill and because many of my students have limited vocabularies. I tried to help students develop a range of tools for working with vocabulary - I teach context clues and dictionary use and show them various methods they can use to study vocabulary (flashcards, partner quizzing, puzzles, etc.).

Now that I'm teaching only math, I'm still teaching vocabulary, but my approach has changed somewhat. I really focus on using the appropriate terminology for math concepts (saying "numerator" instead of "top number," for example) so that students can be prepared for more advanced college math classes. The study of math and science terminology is unique in some ways, though - it can require the study of both words and symbols, it's a little harder to use context clues, and much of the terminology is completely foreign to students. For these reasons, I've been spending a lot of time this term not only teaching vocabulary, but teaching students how to learn the vocabulary.

StudyBlue is a digital flashcard program that can be accessed through a website or an app. It's a pretty simple, straightforward program, though they are slowly adding more features. The program allows you to create decks of digital flashcards that you can then quiz yourself with by "flipping" the cards back and forth. Cards can be as simple as a term on one side and a definition on the other, or you can make them richer and more interactive by adding pictures, sound, or equations. When creating cards through the website, entering a term on a card brings up a list of cards that other users have created for that same term - you then have the option of continuing to supply your own information or inserting someone else's card into your deck. (This feature is not available on the app.)

Decks of cards get saved to your virtual "backpack," and can be used to study via simple flipping or to create study lists or true/false or multiple choice quizzes. When studying by flipping cards, you record whether you answered correctly or not; when you study that same deck again, you then have the option to see only or more often those cards you missed.

When teachers create a StudyBlue account, they have the option to create "classes" that they can invite their students to; when students sign up, they are prompted to join a class. Members of a class can then share study cards and chat with each other.

I like StudyBlue for two reasons - first, it's a clean, simple app that students can quickly learn to use. Additionally, it's convenient - students can install the app on their phone and use it to study whenever they have a few free minutes. They might not carry actual study cards around with them, but they've always got their phones, so they can study while they're waiting for the bus, etc. I've found that international students, in particular, really like and use the app.

I've been sharing StudyBlue with students and other instructors - stay tuned for a post in which I describe more about these experiences.