StudyBlue

StudyBlue is a flash card-creation and -sharing app targeted at high school and college students. The site features a vast library of user-generated content (full access requires a paid Pro account), which users can browse at random by Featured Decks, or they can search through the Featured Subjects view. Users can also create their own flash card decks -- which can include images and text -- to add to this global collection. 

Students can view the content as a review sheet, a quiz (multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank), or as flip-through flash cards, and students see immediate feedback on how well they recalled the information. Students can also use StudyBlue to organize materials for multiple classes, set up study reminders, and share cards with classmates by setting up their own "class" groups on the site. Uploaded content syncs quickly between the web and mobile devices. 

It's easy to create and review cards, and students control how they study material and can collaborate with classmates by sharing notes. Unfortunately, the quality of the content varies dramatically depending on the author. On the technical and design side, navigating the information is confusing at first, and it might be a little misleading. User-generated content is tagged and sorted by the user's university or school, making a lot of the content seem like it's sourced or otherwise endorsed by those institutions. Although the StudyBlue website features a disclaimer that it's not sponsored or endorsed by anyone, the content is presented in a way that suggests otherwise. 

The potential for making personal contact information public is the biggest concern with StudyBlue, especially for high school students; email addresses, school names, classes, and photos can be shared publicly. Users can search by school name and easily pull up lists of classes with student names and email addresses. Thankfully, this information is set to be private by default, but students could easily make it publicly available.