Learning is easier with Flash Card Apps

Flashcard apps tend to be imitations of their physical counterparts. Instead of flipping a card over to reveal an answer, users click or swipe.

Not so with Brainscape. The company uses the digital platform to tweak the flashcard model with proven learning strategies. Questions in Brainscape apps require recall, not multiple-choice selections, ask users to reflect on answers by noting their confidence in them, and use those confidence grades to determine how often each card should be spaced in a deck.

Brainscape founder Andrew Cohen, who has a master’s degree in education technology, conducted a study with 10 Columbia students to compare the effectiveness of what he calls “confidence-based repetition” to normal flashcards. After the students studied material for 30 minutes, students who used Brainscape scored higher on an assessment than students who used flashcards.

The 22 iPhone apps that Brainscape has launched since August cover test prep, vocabulary and other flash-card friendly topics like national capitals, blackjack plays, and drink recipes.

Next week, the startup launches a $40 Spanish app that will drill users on sentence structure as well as vocab and verb conjugation.

All you’re really paying for with the apps is mobile convenience. All of the flashcards are available for free on Brainscape’s website, where you can also make your own flashcards. More than 130,000 people have already registered to do so.

Cohen says Brainscape will eventually wrap all of its content into one portal app that allows users to access premium content through in-app purchases. That master app will also enable mobile make-your-own flashcards.

But the startup also has revenue opportunities outside of app sales.

“Essentially, Brainscape could work anywhere where learning things quickly and efficiently is important,” Cohen says.