What is Quizlet?

Quizlet is a website in which you can create and share flashcards. You can create a set of personalized flashcards for subjects from language to science to history with your own words and definitions, or you can search the site for sets created by others.

Who uses Quizlet?

Quizlet is a resource for both students and educators. It can be a study tool for students and an assessment tool for teachers. Students may access or create the flashcards to study vocabulary in a variety of ways, while teachers can create flashcards for their students and also monitor their progress. Both teachers and students can become members of groups that interest them and contribute to the website's blog.

How does Quizlet work?

Flashcards are divided by subjects, and the subjects vary from languages and vocabulary to math, science, history, and geography. There is also a category dedicated to test preparation for SATs, GREs,LSATs, and others. Without even signing up, it is possible to type a topic (literary terms, for example) into the search function and access sets of flashcards created by other users. Once a given flashcard set has been accessed, it is possible to study the terms/ideas in a variety of ways. The options available on Quizlet reveal the philosophy behind the site: Learn, Test, and Play. The flashcards appear with the word on one side, and in one click the card is flipped to reveal the definition. It is also possible to arrange the flashcards to show both the word and definition on the same side. This allows students to familiarize themselves with the vocabulary. Once they have had a chance to do this, they may move on to the "Learn" function, which tests basic knowledge of definitions. Users are required to insert the corresponding word for each definition. Assessment occurs with each example, an incorrect answer will be shown in red. The student is given another opportunity to respond correctly before being provided with the answer. Students are not penalized for incorrect answers; they are simply encouraged to try again. There is also a "Test" option, which generates random quizzes based on the vocabulary in order to evaluate student performance with a letter grade. The quizzes consist of multiple choice, true/false, matching, and short answer questions, for a total of twenty questions overall. Students receive immediate feedback with a percentage, a letter grade, and the incorrect answers shown in red. Not everything on Quizlet is so serious: students are also encouraged to "play" with the vocabulary, using the games Space Race and Scatter. In the former, students must race against the clock to quickly provide the definition for the word or image advancing across the screen. In the latter, words and definitions are literally "scattered" across the screen and students must match them correctly to make them disappear.

How can I make flashcards using Quizlet?

Signing up for Quizlet is free, and it is also necessary in order to access the "make flashcards" function of the site. All sets require a title and subject, as these two things place them in the proper category and allow for collaboration with and access for other users, though it is possible to limit this access or keep the set completely private. Terms and definitions are then entered into the appropriate columns. Quizlet also uses Flickr, which makes it possible to add images to the flashcards. The site will conduct an automatic search for appropriate images that correspond with the definition entered. Once the set is saved, learning and studying may begin. For additional help, see the video below.



How can I use Quizlet in the classroom?

• Create a group for your class and a review flashcard set for your students to prepare for an upcoming exam. Have the students play the different games (Space Race or Scatter) creating a Quizlet review competition. Quizlet will count the points just like a video game and mark the best students. Everybody in the group will be able to see the results and the most common mistakes so that the students can go back and review the content that seems to be the hardest.
• Incorporate the flashcards into a speaking activity by printing out a flashcard set (verbs work very well for this) and distributing one or two cards to each student. Have students stand in a circle. Students will then go around the circle, one at a time, repeating the word on their card and adding an action that illustrates the meaning. After once or twice, start a memory game in which students must remember and repeat the words and actions of everyone before them in the circle. For example, the student who is number four in the circle must repeat the words and actions of persons 1-3 before "performing" his/her own word.
• Another classroom activity: Print flashcards on different colored paper, i.e. black for nouns, red for adjectives, blue for verbs. Students will then have to hold up their flashcards, stand next to each other and form sentences. This different colors help them identify grammatical structures and memorize word order.
• Another speaking classroom activity. Distribute a flashcard set among students. Each student draws two cards. Set the context for a topic to discuss. Only when everyone has used up their flashcards the game will be over. I have tried this in class and it worked out beautifully. Students come up with funny sentences that help vocab memorization.
  

How does Quizlet aid student learning?
The nature of Quizlet's flashcard sets appeals to different types of learners. Having both text and images on the flashcards helps students to "see" the word in different ways. They are able to identify words by recognizing both textual and visual relationships. Students can also work either individually or collaboratively, fulfilling at least one of ACTFL's Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Communities Standard 5.1 Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting.
Quizlet can also be considered a great community of practice. Have each week a different student create new flashcards plus additional vocabulary that are not in the list of the textbook, but that we "discovered" in class and one student collected. The fact that Quizlet is an open share, online platform that can be linked to Facebook and other social service makes it a community of practice for foreign language learners of one class, university, and other universities that share the same textbook and therefore the same vocab list.