It’s Not About the Flashcards
So What Is It?
Many people have told us they think FunnelBrain is the best flashcard site on the Internet. Of course, we are gratified by this, but for those who look at FunnelBrain and see only a flashcard site, I have a surprise: FunnelBrain is not really about flashcards.
“Flashcard” is actually just a metaphor. FunnelBrain is really about creating student engagement through online collaboration. Read on to learn why we focus on collaboration and why we use the flashcard metaphor.
First, why on online collaboration? We want to get students excited about learning, and we know that:
- Learning is more fun and effective when it is social.
- Students engage on a deeper level with an audience of fellow students, rather than the teacher.
- Online collaboration with all the latest web 2.0 tools makes it cool to be smart.
- A shot at online stardom is a great motivator.
So how do you make online collaboration work? We spent a lot of time studying the essential elements of successful online collaborations. The key elements boil down to these:
- First, you need a well-defined project for your collaborators to join. The participants must all understand the expected output of their collective efforts.
- Second, you need a group of people with some inherent motivation to contribute to your project.
- Third, the barrier to participation must be small. For this, you need a project that is highly “granular,” so that it is easy for participants to jump in and make small contributions to the project.
- Lastly, you need an automated way to assemble all the granular contributions into a cohesive whole.
So, we designed FunnelBrain as a student collaboration project around these essential elements:
The Project
Create a collection of online flashcards decks with all the questions you need to know for your class.Of course, these are not literally flashcards. They are actually multi-media presentations of academic questions, answers and explanations.The flashcard metaphor simply allows the participants to instantly understand the project.The question, answer and explanation format gives the project just enough structure for the many participants’ contributions to hang together, while still leaving broad latitude for student expression and creativity.
The Participants
All the students in your class, along with all the students in similar classes around the world. Their motivations will range from the obvious value of the finished project at exam review time to the thrill of seeing themselves and their work published online.
The Granularity
Individual contributions can be as large as complete sets of flashcards on a particular subject, or as small as a correction, comment or tag on a single flashcard.
The Cohesive Whole
Flashcard decks can automatically sorted and assembled into subject area collections based on the tags users assign them (and by the site’s search index).
Students are already having a great deal of fun with this project. Of course, words only go so far. To get a better sense of the project’s potential, take a look at these “video flashcards”:
Click here to view a video flashcard deck created by the AP Environmental Science students at Saint Mary’s Hall in San Antonio.
Click here to view a video flashcard deck created by the AP Biology class at Lee High School in Houston.
Okay, now how do YOU get started? Easy. Click here to set up a group for your own class.
[...] of some great student work here: VIDEO FLASHCARDSAnd you can read more about the theory here: It’s Not About the FlashcardsPlease check it out and let us know how you like it.The FunnelBrain Team Share this post: Email It | [...]