In this post I will be talking about Save All, an artificial intelligence flashcard tool I use for homework, also great for self-taught learners.
If you are also here to learn languages, check out the links to my decks below!
A foreword: my relationship with self-learning
Some tell me it is counterproductive to share tools for self learning, being a teacher! However, I owe much of my knowledge and almost all of my hobbies from puberty onwards to the generosity of strangers who shared theirs online. Although I try to be generous with the knowledge I have wherever I go (perhaps sometimes a bit over-enthusiastically) I want to keep the ball rolling online too and share.
To share is to care, and I feel like the world needs a bit of TLC right now!
Whatever the reason you have chosen learning on your own, watch this space as I am going to be sharing tools and content, starting here.
Save All: Flashcards Meet Artificial Intelligence.
Doing some research on fun ways to learn and provide homework, I came across Save All, a free, online flashcard site, back when it was in its very early stages. It took a bit of time to start using it, and I was surprised with way more than expected upon signing up. I am still learning all its secrets (especially after joining their Slack group) but the more I use it, the more I like it.
How it works
Firstly you create an account, which is very simple. Then you create a deck, it needs a name, a colour (it generates automatically at first) and cards, or a subdeck. You can then add cards. You can work on a "one face" or "two face" card system, adding just one chunk of text, or two parts. Then you highlight the information section that you want to be quizzed on.
When you hit the "Quiz" button, which shows the "due cards", as in cards you have yet to go through, it quizzes you. It does so by asking you to type the answer, or by choosing the correct one among a few incorrect choices.
Why I like and recommend it:
1. Essentially free.
In the free version, after 15 mistakes, you get a 10 minute timeout.
You can also subscribe for £5.80/ month paid monthly, or £2.90 a month paid yearly.
I believe it is worth paying for it, but if for whatever reason you can't or don't want to, I think the free version is pretty generous as is.
2. Gamification.
It has a score and leaderboard system and the artificial intelligence takes care of choosing how many cards to show, and which ones to cycle, based on correct and wrong answers, etc.
There are some options about how to create cards, which allow you to vary the style of "exercise" presented.
3. AI.
Many aspects are automatised and it is learning to learn about your behaviour in order to help even more. Sometimes I can just dump a lot of data on it, and it just gets it translated. Magic.
4. It's beautifully minimal.
If you are like me and lean towards simpler designs, then this is for you. There are some minor customisation options. I generally find black text on white ground a bit too high-contrast, but in my opinion, they have arranged their fonts, weights and overall design very skillfully (NOTE I do have a weird and strong thing about fonts and design styles).
5. Customer service is wonderful.
So far, my enquiries have been answered incredibly quickly and effectively, either via their website, or the Slack group. They are very in touch with their users, which to me shows the extension of care they are pouring into this project.
6. Minimal data collection.
No cookies banner, not much personal data collection (just behavioural, which makes sense!) , their privacy policy is pretty straightforward and I appreciate that the most personal thing they collect is an email address. As a Doctorow's fan, whom I share paranoid views regarding privacy with - although not his knowledge on cybersecurity - this is a plus for me.
7. There is an app too!
Which means that on both ends, I can easily add cards away form the computer and students can get quizzing on their phones too. I have observed that this reduces greatly resistance to do homework.
Perfect for commutes and lazy days!
Work in progress.
There are a couple of things I think are important to mention for potential users, especially language learners or teachers, to take into account. I believe they are currently being worked on and are essentially due to the infancy of the project. One of them is that the tendency the AI currently has is mostly oriented towards definition, so it doesn't always pick up the pattern of the type of exercises I make, and requires a lot of manual correction on my end. For example when making the exercises for SER Y ESTAR, it would create rather ineffective multiple choice options, one reason being that the alternative options would come up in English. I suggested on Slack allowing "fixed" multiple choices, as that would be extremely beneficial on early stage language learning.
There is a box for code that modifies how the text looks, but doesn't render the code per se...yet!
I was informed they are working on this. My programming skill is modest, but I am very much looking forward to this, as it has the potential to broaden the type of activities that can be included with the site.
Regarding accessibility for blind and visually impaired people, there are no notes on the website about accessibility, and I don't really know how accessible it is to be used with text processing tools and similar yet (but I have asked as I was writing this, so this section may get an update).
My decks
(The word "deck" gives me instant Magic: The Gathering nostalgia, by the way).
You may notice sometimes there is a little flag between (brackets). As most of my lessons are bilingual to one degree or another, it means that there is a secondary language present, besides the target language. There are some different types of exercises: direct translations, fill the gap, put in the correct order... I add new decks and cards all the time (when I have it!) so if interested, stay tuned or follow me there to get updates and stay connected. I put a lot of time and love into them, so I like the idea of them being used. If you have decks related to English or Spanish you would like to share, please do so in the comments, and if you do, thank you in advance! Click on the images or links below to access the decks:
Good learning!
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