Effective Learning Through Sharing the Tablet PC Flash Card Program

Tablet PC Flash Cards were discussed earlier in this blog. Now we have a better way to use them for quick and easy memorization of facts -- Sharing and collaboration.

In a research project conducted by one of the CMU students who invented them, the benefits of using the Tablet PC Flash Cards as a collaborative learning tool are being explored. By themselves, Tablet PC Flash Cards enhance learning by providing an easy way to create and use the cards. CMU is testing the theory that when the cards are shared by multiple students and teachers through collaboration the application is an even better learning tool.

Unlike other online flash cards application, this application saves the deck on the users’ computers as a simple file, so it is easy for them to move the deck to anywhere else (like a website) and email it to others if desired. It is also easy to edit the cards and save multiple revisions of the decks without losing the original deck.

The research project is being conducted in an eighth grade geometry course in an independent school. Every student enrolled in this course has a tablet PC laptop. Functionalities that the students and teacher need include the ability to add and save images, save the entire set of cards as a single "deck" file, and being able to iterate through the cards sequentially or randomly. . The teacher first created a deck and then asked the students to create their own, which are shared using Google Groups.

The screen shot shows how they are used with Google Groups.

Imagine how powerful this could be when shared across groups of students world wide. If there was website where I could go and grab a deck of flash cards for, say, geometry, and customize it for my particular course, it would save so much time, whether I was a teacher, or a student. Working with the other students in the class, we could come up with a fast and effective way to study the exact information we are required to learn!