Digital Flashcards: How to Create, Features and Benefits
Quick, easy, effective and affordable – these are some of the words new-age companies have on their mind when it comes to training their workforce, especially if it is remote and distributed. Which means, the learning material needs to be easy to consume, process and retain. And that is the reason why flashcards have emerged as popular training tools that make learning easy, fast, and efficient. By using flashcards, you can break down a huge chunk of content into small bite-sized pieces that are easy to grasp for your employees.
In fact, cognitive science research has shown that a well-organized deck of flashcards not only helps learners to remember things, but also helps them to retain the information for an extended period. Being convenient to use, flashcards are perfect for learners of different age groups. These learning cards also offer your employees the flexibility to learn anywhere and anytime. Whether you go for physical or digital flashcards, both can improve the learning curve of your workforce.
What are digital flashcards?
Digital flashcards are online learning tools containing bite-sized information—they are versatile and apt for knowledge-focused study activities. Employees can quickly access their study notes in the form of digital flashcards through their mobile devices. This means, they can study anytime and even on the go.
How to make digital flashcards?
Flashcards are highly effective when it comes to making training materials enjoyable. And these days, you can make your own set of digital flashcards containing small pieces of information related to your industry or type of business. They can contain important words, one liners, images, or numbers that allow employees to learn quickly and test themselves on the same, right after.
There are many affordable as well as free flashcard makers available online that allow you to create your own set of cards. Oust Labs, especially, is a smart micro-learning platform that makes flashcard creation easy and affordable. You can also check out websites like Cram.com, Flashcard.online, GoConqr, etc. or mobile apps like Tinycards, Quizlet, StudyBlue, etc. They allow you to make flashcard decks for any subject. Several websites and
apps let you create a free account and proceed with flashcard making. You can also make your learning cards compatible with Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and even Linux. Some flashcard makers let you save, print, and share your cards as well. You will also find platforms (like Oust Labs) or apps to make the best online flashcards in different languages.
Also Read: Microlearning in formal education
Features of online flashcards
Here are the things you need to know about flashcards, before getting started on them:
A basic flashcard has two sides. The front part contains a question, and the back side comes with the answer. The concept is that your employees need to answer the question on the front side and verify the answer from the back of the card. Classic tap and flip digital flashcards work this way.
Digital flashcards allow you to incorporate video and audio clips apart from image and text contents. Instead of plain text, a combination with image, video and/or audio makes the cards a more effective tool for learners.
Some of the digital cards come with click and reveal or drag and drop features, making the cards visually interactive, gamified and engaging.
Flashcard making websites or apps allow users to create unlimited cards, store, download and print, manage them in a specific manner, and search efficiently to make your employees’ learning easy.
Digital cards can easily be shared with others too.
Digital vs paper flashcards
Wondering which one is more effective or convenient for learning - digital or paper flashcards? Well, to make things easy for you, here are the key points that make digital flashcards preferable for modern learners.
Virtual flashcard apps allow you to store the end number of cards. And you can also keep the cards in an organized manner, so you can find any of them easily at any time. You can also take digital flashcards anywhere without carrying any physical object except your mobile.
You can find any card easily via the search function, to update, rectify, or use them.
You can even download and customize other people's flashcards to tailor them as per your requirement.
In case of digital cards, along with text, you can add images, audio, and/or video clips to make the cards more effective.
Digital cards are environment-friendly learning components. They allow you to save paper.
Virtual cards are safe to use as there is no chance of losing them until you discard or delete the same.
On the other hand, physical cards are inconvenient to handle. As the number of cards increases, it becomes harder for you to store, manage, move, and search for the right one on time.
Also Read: Flashcards – A New Way of Learning Effectively
Benefits of using digital flashcards
Here are the top benefits you can look forward to.
Improves retention
Flashcards offer you the flexibility to break down lengthy or complex concepts into smaller parts that are easy for learners to understand and remember. They facilitate easy repetition. So, learners can revise a concept multiple times to memorize. This technique of repeated mental retrieval of a concept will tune their brain to recall the information faster with the passage of time.
Enhances active recall
Flashcards help improve memory with active recall. The use of flashcards keeps an employee’s brain constantly stimulated to actively recall information. So, their memory retains information for a longer time. Moreover, active recall can create a stronger neuron connection for a memory trace.
Employs metacognitive faculties
Metacognition means being aware of and understanding one’s own thought process, i.e., how someone thinks and learns. Flashcards allow learners to analyze their thought process and encourage them to do knowledge testing. With the help of cards, your employees can self-assess the answers by comparing them with the correct answer on the flip side. It will help them judge how close they are to the right answer or if they need more practice. Metacognition can help learners to ingrain knowledge deeper in their memories.
Facilitates confidence-based repetition
Constant repetition helps build a trainee’s confidence in a specific subject or topic. By facilitating constant repetition with small parts of your learning material, a flashcard can boost your employee’s self-confidence. The confidence-based repetition method is one of the best ways to improve memory performance.
Effective learning tools for differently abled people
Flashcards are beneficial for teaching employees with learning difficulties, such as those with Down syndrome and so on. As they learn to read flashcards, a repetitive learning facility allows them to memorize things efficiently.
Useful tool to educate frontline employees
Flashcards are the perfect micro-learning tool for distributed frontline employees. They are quite effective when it comes to educating blue-collar employees by enhancing their knowledge or upskilling them with new concepts or technologies or new processes, etc.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, flashcards allow one's brain to learn most effectively and don’t crowd it with unnecessary information. These cards not only help employees to comprehend and memorize information quickly, but also enable them to retain the information for long. So, if you are planning to create and implement flashcards to facilitate the training of your employees, consult the experts at Oust Labs today!