How to Use Flashcards in eLearning
Creating exciting, yet informative, eLearning experiences for learners can be a challenging feat even for the most knowledgeable and experienced eLearning professionals. This achievement often includes a blend of engaging learning materials, a carefully planned curriculum, and a variety of eLearning tools. Historically, flashcards have been the go-to tools for educators, as they help to prevent cognitive overload and actually make the learning experience enjoyable. However, there are a few tips and tricks that you may want to keep in mind if you're trying to get the most benefit from the flashcard creation tools that are available today.
- Avoid clutter.
Don't clutter your flashcards with an abundance of images or text. Ideally, the flashcards should give learners key pieces of information that help them to achieve their learning goals. Rather than filling them with as much data as possible, keep them concise and clear, so that your learners have the opportunity to absorb knowledge quickly and effectively. - Stay on-topic.
Each collection of flashcards should be centered around the particular topic or the subject matter. Creating collections of flashcards that include many different concepts or ideas, typically leads to cognitive overload or simply confuses learners. As such, it's a good idea to stay focused on a core idea that concentrates on one eLearning module or concept. - Encourage learners to create their own flashcards to boost retention.
If you give learners the opportunity to create their own collection of flashcards by using free flashcard creation tools, they are more likely to absorb and retain the information. This is primarily due to the fact that the creation process itself leads to knowledge acquisition and helps to move the information to the long term memory of your learners. - Integrate flashcard memorization activities into your eLearning course plan.
A variety of flashcard creation tools online today, offer memorization activities and games that boost the fun factor for learners, while helping them to more efficiently retain the acquired knowledge. Memorization exercises help learners to process the data being offered,store it, and then recall that data when necessary. It also requires that they call upon concepts that they have already learned, which helps to further increase knowledge retention. - Use relevant and high quality images.
While it's always wise to limit your usage of graphics and images on each flashcard, including relevant and high quality images on each flashcard can help learners to more effectively absorb the key concepts. Flashcards that feature images can also make the learning process more engaging and interactive for all learners, given that they create a more immersive and aesthetically pleasing eLearning course. - Assess learner knowledge via flashcard exams and quizzes.
There are flaschard making tools that give you the chance to create exams and quizzes, which can help you to assess learner knowledge and skill set development. After each module simply ask the learners to complete a flashcard quiz. Doing so, will also offer them the chance to see how they are progressing and to determine if there are any key areas they may need to further work on. - Ask learners to participate in group study sessions online.
Flashcards are ideal if you are trying to integrate more group collaboration exercises into your eLearning strategy. You can ask learners to participate in group study sessions wherein they can work together to complete games and memorization exercises, chat about concepts, and benefit from one another's experience and skills. - Ensure that the flashcards are viewable on varied platforms and devices.
It's important that your learners are able to actually access the flashcards you have created, even if they are on-the-go. As such, you may want to opt for a flashcard creation tool that is supported by many different platforms and devices. For instance, if your learners would like to review the flashcards on their mobile phones, they should be able to do so. - Allow learners to expand upon or personalize the flashcards.
Due to the fact that flashcard making tools are so easy to use, you can encourage your learners to explore a concept further. For instance, if you feel as though a learner may not be progressing as well as he/she should, you can ask him/her to create additional flashcards that expand upon the ideas he/she has already explored. You can also have your learners personalize their flashcards in order to motivate them and get them to better relate to the subject matter. - Use flashcards as inspiration for group discussions.
Flaschards can become the center of group discussions by simply asking your learners to focus on one – or more- of the flashcards during group collaboration sessions or live events. For example, you can choose one of the flashcards and ask a question based upon the concept or idea it illustrates. This will prompt learners to delve into a specific aspect of the eLearning course so that they can ask questions or clarify any confusion that they may have about that particular topic. You can also develop real life scenarios based around the flashcards, or a series of questions that will help facilitate online group discussions.
The use of flashcards in eLearning courses has the power to make the eLearning experience fascinating, inspiring, and effective for learners of all ages, and in all niches. Just keep these flashcards in eLearning tips on hand in order to get maximum results for your learners!
If you'd like to learn more about the free flashcard creation tools, the article Best Free Flashcard Creation Tools highlights the 5 best flashcard makers and explains how each can be used to offer a more engaging and exciting learning experience for your learners.
