Quizlet

Studying with Quizlet means working with digital flashcards, and Quizlet flashcard sets have the same benefits and drawbacks as their paper counterparts. It’s useful to have a fast way to create, search for, and review digital flashcards, and it’s convenient to have flashcards available at the tap of a screen. The view that offers the best chance for engagement and deep learning -- the aptly named Learn view -- has been extensively updated for mobile, which is a big help, and it's nice to be able to search for flashcard sets and to tap many cards to hear the text read aloud. However, while the app offers easy access to that content, it might not inspire deep learning or serious engagement. Unless you're searching for your own flashcard deck or for cards made by someone you know, it's hard to find consistently good content. And, once you find a good flashcard set, there’s little to stop a user from clicking mindlessly through a set of flashcards. 

Ultimately, Quizlet is good for rapid-fire review or rote memorization; if that’s an element of how a student wants or needs to study, this app could be a useful tool. In some ways, Quizlet offers a valuable digital learning community, with existing flashcards on a range of topics, from driver’s ed to calculus. The same rule applies here as with paper flashcards, however: There’s a learning opportunity in making the flashcards as much as in using them, and it’s possible that users could rely entirely on others’ flashcard sets rather than creating new ones.