The FunnelBrain Blog » Flashcards

Become a FunnelBrain Fan on Facebook

Joe DeTuno — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:38:15 +0000

FunnelBrain is on Facebook. Become a Fan today!

It’s Not About the Flashcards

Jack — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:45:45 +0000

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.

Publishing Videos On FunnelBrain

Joe DeTuno — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:05:39 +0000

Hi Everyone -

We just launched a new free video publishing platform for multi-media flashcards on FunnelBrain. Flashcard authors can now capture video directly into FunnelBrain from a connected web cam when creating questions, answers, explanations and mnemonic devices. Of course, you can continue to upload videos the traditional way if you like. The online capture method is ideal for authors who are speaking directly into the camera to create a set of flashcards or record a video explanation.

To use the platform, simply click on the “Create Flashcards” link in the main navigation bar. Once in create mode, use the drop down menu on the flashcard to select “Video” and then click the “Upload Video” button as illustrated below.

Once you select “Upload Video,” you will be asked to install the browser plug-in. Once installed (you may have to restart your browser depending on what browser you are running), you will see the screen below.

If you have a camera configured for your computer, click the “Record From Webcam” button to launch the recording service. If you prefer to upload a video from your computer, select “Upload Video” browse for the file on your hard drive and drag it into the window to upload.

We hope you enjoy this new feature and look forward to your feedback. Thanks again for using FunnelBrain!

- The FunnelBrain Team

FunnelBrain Product Updates July 2009

Joe DeTuno — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:54:13 +0000

Hey Everyone -

The FunnelBrain team has been hard at work and we’d like to tell you about some exciting enhancements to the FunnelBrain service. Keep checking back though…we’ve got lots more coming this summer!

Introducing “My Funnel”

So you’ve been working with your classmates to create review materials for your upcoming exam. Now you’re done and you need to study but you don’t want your classmates adding or changing your flashcards!

With My Funnel, you can make review materials private by adding them to your “Funnel” and having a copy of the information for your eyes only. Go ahead, study for the exam and when you’re ready, re-sync with the community materials so you’re up to date.

To use this feature, click the “Make Private” link on the right side of your flashcards – see the green arrow in the screen cap below. Then access you’re your review materials directly from your profile.

Create a Private Group!

Because we know there are times when you don’t want to share with the entire community, we created Private Groups. With Private Groups you can create a study team, invite your friends and create flashcard sets that remain between you and the team.

You can also create multiple group administrators, accept or reject access to your group and send notifications to the team. These are just a few of the features now available, but stay tuned because we’ve got lots more coming…

From the Homepage, click “Create a FunnelBrain Group” and then select the privacy option at the bottom of the Create Group Page

Browser Support – Safari, Chrome, etc.

We heard you loud and clear. You can now access FunnelBrain using any browser.

Invite Friends with Facebook Connect

Want your Facebook Friends to join your FunnelBrain Group? Now you can send invitations to friends on Facebook by logging in through Facebook Connect.

Select the “Invite Friends” link from your Group homepage, select the Facebook logo and click “Connect with Facebook”

Shortly, you’ll be able to use you Facebook Connect as your primary login for FunnelBrain.com as well.

Bits and Pieces…

Our wiki-flashcard toolset is under constant improvement. We’ve updated the toolset to include the ability for you to add your flashcard set directly to your group while creating your flashcards.

Can you come up with the best mnemonic device? How about the best overall set of flashcards for a particular AP Subject? Over the coming months, we will be introducing a series of online competitions and contest for you to participate.

Go faster…without boring you with details; we have made numerous performance improvements that make the site lightning quick. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to study and having to wait for the next question to come up.

We’ve received great feedback from many of our users and are working on a lot of the stuff you’ve been asking for. Stay tuned and happy Funneling!

Thanks for using FunnelBrain!

- The FunnelBrain Team

FunnelBrain and DemiDec Partner to Bring Academic Decathlon Flashcards Online

Joe DeTuno — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:43:08 +0000

Los Angeles, CA, May 17, 2009 – FunnelBrain, LLC. announced a partnership with DemiDec Corporation, the leading provider of independent curriculum materials for the U.S. Academic Decathlon.

FunnelBrain will host DemiDec’s 2009–2010 Decathlon flashcards online, giving over 10,000 DemiDec subscribers the opportunity to join the growing FunnelBrain student community and to benefit from FunnelBrain’s learning management application, the FUNNEL.

On FunnelBrain.com, a student-driven academic question-and-answer site founded by education experts and seasoned Internet executives from Move, Inc. [NASDAQ:MOVE], students create and share multimedia flashcards to enhance their learning experience. They can form study groups and collaborate on flashcards with other students around the world.

“I was really impressed with FunnelBrain’s innovative approach to student collaboration,” said Daniel Berdichevsky, DemiDec’s CEO. “It fits perfectly with DemiDec’s student-centered approach—students learn best when we give them the tools they need to work together.”

Daniel will also join FunnelBrain’s advisory board. He founded DemiDec in 1994 and obtained his undergraduate and first master’s degrees from Stanford, and his second master’s degree, in Public Policy, from Harvard. Daniel also directs the World’s Scholar’s Cup, an international academic competition with participants in over 30 countries.

“We’re excited to partner with a proven company focused on student educational resources and experiences,” said Joe DeTuno, FunnelBrain’s CEO. “We’re especially excited to have Daniel join our advisory board.”

About FunnelBrain LLC
FunnelBrain is an academic question-and-answer site that provides an environment for team-based learning and multimedia flashcards. Learn more at http://blog.funnelbrain.com or http://www.funnelbrain.com, or email contact@funnelbrain.com. FunnelBrain is a trademark of FunnelBrain LLC.

About DemiDec
DemiDec has been the category leader in student-centered learning experiences since 1994, reaching more than 100,000 students in 32 countries: DemiDec’s learning solutions range from curriculum for the Academic Decathlon to college prep courses at the DemiDec Academies in South Korea. To learn more, visit http://www.demidec.com or e-mail contact@demidec.com. DemiDec is a trademark of the DemiDec Corporation.

About World Scholars Cup
With participants in over 30 countries, the World Scholar’s Cup is the world’s leading team academic competition. Teams learn a unified global curriculum spanning multiple subjects and skills, from science and art to writing and debate; they participate year-round in the World Scholar’s Cup online community and compete in person at regional and world tournaments. The 2009 World Finals will be held June 13-14 in Singapore.

Click Here to read the the release on PRWeb.

FunnelBrain User Survey – Your Feedback is Important

Joe DeTuno — Fri, 29 May 2009 20:31:16 +0000

Please take a few minutes to complete the FunnelBrain Online User Survey. We value your input and we’re working hard to improve the site for your needs.

You comments, ideas and feedback are very important and thanks again for your continued support.

FunnelBrain Newsletter: May 2009

Joe DeTuno — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:44:56 +0000

The latest FunnelBrain.com Newsletter is now available. You can check it out online here.

Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest updates on what we’re up to.

FunnelBrain Product Updates

Joe DeTuno — Tue, 26 May 2009 18:29:00 +0000

Hey Everyone – We’ve been busy with improvements to the site and wanted to give you a quick update on the changes in no particular order…

Creating Flashcards - In the old days, you could only append flashcards to the end of a quesion set, but now you can put them anywhere you want! When you edit a set of flashcards you’ll see a “+” and “-” sign next to each flashcard in the deck. Simply click the “+” to insert a question and use the “-” to delete.

Insert and Delete Flashcards

Studying Flashcards - “Flashcard Set Questions” makes its easier to navigate the content within a set of flashcards when you don’t want to flip through the entire deck. This section lists all the questions in your flashcard set and allows navigation to a specific question in the list. Check it out and let us know what you think.

List of Questions in the Flashcard Deck

Team Learning – Inviting your friends to a Group on FunnelBrain from Facebook, MySpace, Gmail, etc. has been improved with support for additional social networks and tighter integration. We are very focused on enabling team based learning and content creation so stay tuned for lots of improvements to our group functionality.

FunnelBrain Group Invite

Coming Soon - We are hard at work on several additional improvements that will be coming this summer…

- We are making significant progress on Private Groups will be rolling out version 1 very soon.
- Support for Safari and Google Chrome will be available mid-summer.
- Lots of design and usability improvements based on your feedback.
- We are working on some cool video features to make it easier for you to create video and multimedia flashcards.
- And a few more that we will share soon…

You can now follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Please keep your feedback coming and thanks for your continued support.

The Funnel Groove: New Ways to Learn with FunnelBrain

Joe DeTuno — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:52:48 +0000

Raise scores by collaborating with other students from around the world!

Create, Learn and Share Flashcards
Create and personalize your review questions: include videos, photos, voice recordings, and even math equations. Share your questions and collaborate with your classmates and other students around the world by working on a common set of flashcards together.

Flashcards Don’t Have Two Sides Anymore
On FunnelBrain, you can add a third side to any flashcard. (Try that in the real world! You’ll probably end up with a papercut.) Use videos, images, and text to explain a difficult concept, or to share a favorite mnemonic device.

Create and Collaborate in Study Groups
Create study groups and invite your classmates and friends from FaceBook, MySpace, and Gmail! Add photos (hopefully educational ones) and have real-time discussions in the message forum. Groups are designed to help you work together with other students in your class–or on another continent.

Enhance Your Profile and Add Your Friends
Add a profile photo and include your name so your classmates can find you. Update your information with your classes, your school and all the groups you’ve joined. Then, use the Add Friend feature to build your study community. Your profile is automatically updated with study materials you save, create and review on FunnelBrain.

The FUNNEL – FunnelBrain Can Help Pace Your Studying
Funnelbrain’s unique FUNNEL application always presents you with the right question at the right time. It uses a spaced repetition algorithm to keep track of what you’ve already learned and what you still need to be learning. Simply enable the learning mode when viewing any flashcard and the FUNNEL will track your progress from there!

Coming Soon…

Private groups! Because you don’t always want to share…

Record videos directly from your browser…

Include your blog on FunnelBrain.com…

Delete, rearrange and insert new flashcards..

More features for personalizing your flashcards using our rich text editor…

Design enhancements and usability improvement…

Click here view the newsletter online.

Instructional Flashcards vs. Practice Problems

Jack — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:12:31 +0000

I want to comment on two very different categories of flashcards that you see in certain subject areas, particularly in math and science subjects such as AP Physics, AP Calculus or AP Chemistry. One category consists of cards that contain some essential piece of knowledge or concept about the subject area. The best cards of this type also include an explanation treating that piece of knowledge in more depth. With this type of card, if you did not already know the information contained on the card, you could learn it by reviewing the card. Let’s call this type of card “instructional.” An example might be an AP Physics card that describes Newton’s Laws of Motion, or an AP Calculus card that explains the fundamental theorem of calculus.

In contrast to the instructional type flashcard, there are cards that just contain practice problems. With this type of card, if you do not already know how to solve the problem, the card is of no use to you. It is useful only to practice applying knowledge you already have.

Both types of cards have their place, but I think it is useful to keep the distinction in mind when constructing a deck of flashcards. I personally don’t like to mix the two types in the same deck. If I am still in the process of mastering the skills and concepts of a subject area, I want every card in the deck to help me with that. I don’t want to be frustrated by a random practice problem that I don’t yet know how to solve. Of course, that is a personal preference, and you are free to structure your own flashcard decks however you like. However, when you first create a deck, you may want to make an upfront decision about what types of cards you want it to contain (instructional cards, practice problems, or mixed), and state that decision explicitly in your description of the deck’s purpose. That way, other members of your group have some guidance about what kind of cards you want them to add.