Using Quizlet for ELT

 

Quizlet

What is Quizlet?

Quizlet is a free website providing learning tools for students, including flashcards, study and game modes. For those who may not be familiar, Quizlet is a website that allows users to create their own study guides or other means of study such as flash cards, long-term learning and matching. Users also have the ability to test themselves on the knowledge learned from the study guide with a healthy amount of different testing options. 

Quizlet is simple to use, and students should easily get the hang of making study sets. To start a study set, the user types both the definition and the term for each question. The option to type the term and definition is a really good choice, as this results in no limits for what kind of questions can be created. Besides vocabulary words, there can also be more complex questions and answers. There’s no limit for how many questions can be in a study set, which is useful for lengthy exams.

Quizlet has a free option with limited features and a paid option called Quizlet Plus for about $35.99 per year. The paid version removes ads, lets you study offline, and includes the best features, including Quizlet Learn. There is no month-to-month option. Also you can get a seven-day free trial.

You'll need the Plus account if you intend to study using diagrams, custom images (common among medical students), or custom audio. The Plus level also offers personalized study paths, meaning the app determines how you should study based on a goal that you set. Plus members also get smart grading, the ability to scan in documents, and rich text formatting.

Getting started

Quizlet is available as a web app, as well as an Android app and iPad or iPhone app. To get started, you must create an account with an email address, username, and password; or by authenticating through Apple, Google, or Facebook. Quizlet also asks for your date of birth, presumably to collect data on the ages of people using the app. 

Once you have an account, you can start creating your own study sets or looking for ones you want to add to your files. Quizlet is essentially a flashcard app, so every item in a study set has two pieces: a question or trigger and a response. For example, if you're learning a language—and Quizlet is a fantastic complement to any language learning app—you'd have the word in the new language plus its meaning in your native language. Other kinds of learning might contain images. For example, let's say you're studying vocabulary. The triggers might be pictures of different things and the answer or response would be their names.

Making sets and editing them is straightforward. Quizlet supports uploading spreadsheets to make the process faster, if you already have study materials laid out in a compatible format. You can edit study sets that you make, but you can't edit someone else's set unless they allow it in the options for that set. You can, however, make a copy of a set (this function is labeled Customize), which you can then change to your heart's desire. Quizlet always gives you the option to keep your sets private if you don't want anyone else to access them.

Seven Ways to Study

1. Cards

Cards is a standard digital flashcard method where you cycle through your study set and try to memorize the information.

Flashcard

2. Learn

The Learn option gives you a prompt and you select the correct response based on multiple choice options, with all the possible answers coming from your study set. 

3. Write

The option called Write shows you a prompt and you have to write the answer, rather than rely on multiple choice options. 

Write

4. Spell

In Spell, you hear an audio reading of the prompt but don't see it in writing and have to type out the answer. Spell doesn't work for study sets that incorporate images or diagrams.

5. Test

The fifth opinion, Test, gives you a quiz made with a variety of question types, including matching, multiple choice, and so forth. Note that this mode isn't designed for formal assessment.

6. Match

Sixth is Match, where you see a bunch of cards on screen, half prompts and half answers, and you have to match the correct pairs. There's a timer running so that you can turn it into a game and try to beat your best time or your other learners' best times. 

7. Gravity

The last study mode, Gravity, also has a game angle. A prompt appears on an asteroid that appears to fall from the top of the screen, and you have to write the correct response before it hits the ground.

Benefit for using Quizlet for ELT

1. Can easily differentiate review for your students

1. Flashcards – A quick way to review terms and definitions, just like paper-based flashcards.

2. Learn – A personalized study mode based on how well they know information in a study set.

3. Write – A fill-in-the-blank style study tool.

4. Spell – A study mode that dictates a term or definition that they must correctly type.

5. Test – An easy way to quiz themselves on how well they know information in a study set.

6. Match – A time-based game where the student must match terms and definitions.

7. Gravity – A level-based game where the student must answer correctly before being hit by an asteroid

2. Can be incorporate collaboration and teamwork into your classes

The game randomly sorts students into teams to match terms and definitions, and the first team to correctly answer all of the questions wins! Quizlet Live is fully focused on accuracy over speed. If a team answers any question wrong, they have to start over from the beginning. This ensures your students’ competitive spirit won’t override the need to answer correctly.

3. Quizlet Helps Students Prepare for Tests

With the engaging study tools and differentiation options available, your students have so many different ways to study information when using Quizlet. Instead of having to look through notes, fill out worksheets, and create paper flashcards, they can just log in and start studying!

On top of that, if your students have a mobile device, they can download the Quizlet app to review information anytime, anywhere. That means your students will have more flexibility to study what they want, when they want, and in the way they want.

The Weaknesses of Quizlet

1. Students could learn incorrect information

Because Quizlet allows any user to create and share a study set, there is no guarantee the information is accurate. If a student logs in and chooses a set created by someone else, there’s a possibility they could accidentally study incorrect information!

One typo in someone else’s cards could lead your student to studying the wrong information, miss questions on a test, and get a low grade they didn’t expect to receive. Though you can instruct your students to only use the sets and games you’ve created, students can still come across other ones on their own.

2. Students may use Quizlet to cheat

If you create Quizlet sets for each assessment in your class, you’re providing excellent resources for your students. But dishonest students may take advantage of those study tools to cheat on their homework and assessments.

Even though Quizlet doesn’t allow cheating or academic dishonesty, some students will push the boundaries and find ways to cheat. It’s as easy as a student Googling a homework question, finding a Quizlet set, and copying the answers straight from the website.

In fact, it’s so easy that it may not even feel like cheating. Students might just want more information on a certain topic and stumble upon direct answers to their homework.

3. Limited features

Quizlet has a free option with limited features and a paid option called Quizlet Plus for about $35.99 per year. The paid version removes ads, lets you study offline, and includes the best features, including Quizlet Learn. There is no month-to-month option.

Should you use Quizlet?

When it comes down to using Quizlet, it all depends on the balance of pros and cons you’ll get from using it. If you want to provide a customized study tool for your students to memorize and review specific terms and concepts, Quizlet could be perfect for you. But if you start to notice a suspicious pattern of exceptionally good grades and word-for-word answers, it may be time to cut Quizlet from your teaching strategy.