This past week, I received the news that the essay I wrote about my first semester of teaching with Anki has been accepted for publication in our university's inhouse journal! Hurrah!
The title is "Internet-based Spaced Repetition Learning In and Out of the Classroom: Implementation and Student Perception." Once I am done revising it based on readers' comments, I will post it on a google site.
I'm very excited because it is my first attempt to formally share what I am trying to do in the classroom with Anki. It is more focused on what I did in the classrooms and what the students thought of it; I did not try to prove the effectiveness of Anki.
I am also relieved because if we decide to stay in Japan longer than my five-year contract at Asia University, having publications will greatly help my job hunting...
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
It's all about time...
I met Aaron through his website, The Everyday Language Learner. He had written an interesting article about paper flash cards, and of course, I had to chime in about Anki!
So, in revenge, he asked me to write a guest post about Anki as a follow up. I was really excited to write it and thought a lot about what I wanted to say. I tried to figure out what is REALLY SPECIAL about Anki and why I am so crazy about it.
So, this post, Anki: Bringing Flashcards out of the Stone Age is my attempt to distill the importance of Anki and what I want to shout at people who refuse to use it. Sorry if that sounds a little strong, but I didn't want to write just another warm, comforting, encouraging entreaty for people to study. I wanted to cut away all the crap and look at the cold, hard reality of learning and how Anki can help.
Let me know what you think!
So, in revenge, he asked me to write a guest post about Anki as a follow up. I was really excited to write it and thought a lot about what I wanted to say. I tried to figure out what is REALLY SPECIAL about Anki and why I am so crazy about it.
So, this post, Anki: Bringing Flashcards out of the Stone Age is my attempt to distill the importance of Anki and what I want to shout at people who refuse to use it. Sorry if that sounds a little strong, but I didn't want to write just another warm, comforting, encouraging entreaty for people to study. I wanted to cut away all the crap and look at the cold, hard reality of learning and how Anki can help.
Let me know what you think!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Cognitive Fluency - what goes on behind the scenes in our brains!
This article from the Boston Times, Easy = True, really blew my mind about how our brains work.
After reading it and thinking about all its ramifications, I radically changed my teaching (and better understood my own Japanese learning). I highly recommend you read this article. It has implications far beyond just teaching and learning.
*Update - A reader asked me to explain better how it relates to my teaching, especially in terms of Anki.
I think the key passage from the article is as follows (I put the key words in bold):
"The persuasive power of repetition, clarity, and simplicity is something that people who set out to win others’ trust - marketers, political candidates, speechwriters, suitors, and teachers - already have an intuitive sense of if they’re good at what they do. What the fluency research is showing is just how profound the effect can be, and just how it works."
The research seems to show that our brains like the information to be repeated, clear, and simple. In terms of teaching, I think if these three concepts are not present in what we do in the classroom, then our students' brains will not be happy, and therefore, they will not learn. Our students will not trust us and will not relax enough to learn effectively.
Repetition - Not only should we provide the repetition of content to the students, but our students should be able to repeat (do again and again) what we ask of them. If they can't, for whatever reason, their brains will be unhappy and they won't learn.
Clarity - Our students must understand what they are doing and why. From my own experience in Japanese language classes here in Tokyo, not understanding what the teacher is asking me to do is EXTREMELY frustrating and drives me crazy. It makes me want to quit...
Simplicity - This is not to say that the content (i.e. English) should be simple but that the activity itself should not be complicated or difficult. Again, the brain does not like things that are hard. Yes, we should challenge our students but not in a way that turns them off from learning.
So, how does this relate to Anki? Well, it seems to me that Anki could be a perfect manifestation of these three concepts. It is all about repetition. It is very clear about what a user must do and how it works. It is a very simple process, elegant even. And I think it is Anki's simplicity that is the most important. It takes the extremely difficult process of organizing, sorting, sequencing, and checking a huge amount of information and reduces it to a simple click of a button. An Anki user doesn't have to stress about all that; it takes all the worry out of the process. That freedom from stress and worry is amazing and powerful.
When I try to summarize this aspect of Anki to people, I say, "You only have to study what you NEED to study WHEN you need to study it." To me, that feels like a warm, soft blanket on a cold, rainy day...
However, how do we get our students to realize and understand all of this? That is the challenge...
After reading it and thinking about all its ramifications, I radically changed my teaching (and better understood my own Japanese learning). I highly recommend you read this article. It has implications far beyond just teaching and learning.
*Update - A reader asked me to explain better how it relates to my teaching, especially in terms of Anki.
I think the key passage from the article is as follows (I put the key words in bold):
"The persuasive power of repetition, clarity, and simplicity is something that people who set out to win others’ trust - marketers, political candidates, speechwriters, suitors, and teachers - already have an intuitive sense of if they’re good at what they do. What the fluency research is showing is just how profound the effect can be, and just how it works."
The research seems to show that our brains like the information to be repeated, clear, and simple. In terms of teaching, I think if these three concepts are not present in what we do in the classroom, then our students' brains will not be happy, and therefore, they will not learn. Our students will not trust us and will not relax enough to learn effectively.
Repetition - Not only should we provide the repetition of content to the students, but our students should be able to repeat (do again and again) what we ask of them. If they can't, for whatever reason, their brains will be unhappy and they won't learn.
Clarity - Our students must understand what they are doing and why. From my own experience in Japanese language classes here in Tokyo, not understanding what the teacher is asking me to do is EXTREMELY frustrating and drives me crazy. It makes me want to quit...
Simplicity - This is not to say that the content (i.e. English) should be simple but that the activity itself should not be complicated or difficult. Again, the brain does not like things that are hard. Yes, we should challenge our students but not in a way that turns them off from learning.
So, how does this relate to Anki? Well, it seems to me that Anki could be a perfect manifestation of these three concepts. It is all about repetition. It is very clear about what a user must do and how it works. It is a very simple process, elegant even. And I think it is Anki's simplicity that is the most important. It takes the extremely difficult process of organizing, sorting, sequencing, and checking a huge amount of information and reduces it to a simple click of a button. An Anki user doesn't have to stress about all that; it takes all the worry out of the process. That freedom from stress and worry is amazing and powerful.
When I try to summarize this aspect of Anki to people, I say, "You only have to study what you NEED to study WHEN you need to study it." To me, that feels like a warm, soft blanket on a cold, rainy day...
However, how do we get our students to realize and understand all of this? That is the challenge...
Friday, December 30, 2011
"Forced" Anki use - pros and cons?
So far, I have not required my students to use Anki outside of class. One of the main reasons is that I cannot yet think of a good way to do it - i.e. accurately assess/monitor if they actually do it.
Soren, an Anki user and advocate, wrote a good article about Anki use cheating and how to stop it that discusses some really interesting ideas.
However, I think there is a larger issue. Most of us use Anki because we really want to learn our subject and know it is very effective. We have positive feelings and associations with Anki.
If we "force" (require) our students to use it AND somehow figure out a way to stop cheating, do we run the risk of alienating our students to Anki, especially to the point where they will not use it in other classes and in the future?
What is more important? Giving the students the opportunity to experience Anki in a way that will lead to some fully embracing it but allowing some to opt out? Or requiring its use, knowing that it is good for them (like vegetables)?
It is kind of a "Is the glass half full or half empty" question.
What do you think?
Soren, an Anki user and advocate, wrote a good article about Anki use cheating and how to stop it that discusses some really interesting ideas.
However, I think there is a larger issue. Most of us use Anki because we really want to learn our subject and know it is very effective. We have positive feelings and associations with Anki.
If we "force" (require) our students to use it AND somehow figure out a way to stop cheating, do we run the risk of alienating our students to Anki, especially to the point where they will not use it in other classes and in the future?
What is more important? Giving the students the opportunity to experience Anki in a way that will lead to some fully embracing it but allowing some to opt out? Or requiring its use, knowing that it is good for them (like vegetables)?
It is kind of a "Is the glass half full or half empty" question.
What do you think?
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Good stuff to inspire teachers and students!
Got the link below from twitter feed of All Japanese All The Time, a fantastic site about language learning.
35 Great Posts from 2011 for Language Learners and a Bit More
35 Great Posts from 2011 for Language Learners and a Bit More
To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test - NYT
Great article from the New York Times about learning and testing!
To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test
To Really Learn, Quit Studying and Take a Test
Maybe Anki is too easy?
We were riding the Chuo train line back to Musashisakai last night, catching up on some Anki study. As I was reviewing my cards, some of which were quite easy, I found myself thinking, "Why am I studying this card? I already know it! This is a waste of my time..."
However, I came back to reality by remembering that the secret to Anki is to review the information BEFORE you forget it. If used properly, all reviews should be that easy. It should be effortless and fun.
Maybe our students, who are used to traditional learning and studying being difficult and unpleasant, don't see Anki as serious studying? - and therefore, not worth their time.
Maybe they think the same thing as I did on the train but don't have the understanding of how Anki works to reassure them. This, perhaps, is connected to my earlier post about students needing to understand the principles and science behind Anki.
Mesqueeb, a regular reader and commentor on this blog, has offered to make a youtube video in Japanese explaining Anki that I could show my students. I think that may be an excellent idea, especially if the video can concisely and succinctly convey the key points...
However, I came back to reality by remembering that the secret to Anki is to review the information BEFORE you forget it. If used properly, all reviews should be that easy. It should be effortless and fun.
Maybe our students, who are used to traditional learning and studying being difficult and unpleasant, don't see Anki as serious studying? - and therefore, not worth their time.
Maybe they think the same thing as I did on the train but don't have the understanding of how Anki works to reassure them. This, perhaps, is connected to my earlier post about students needing to understand the principles and science behind Anki.
Mesqueeb, a regular reader and commentor on this blog, has offered to make a youtube video in Japanese explaining Anki that I could show my students. I think that may be an excellent idea, especially if the video can concisely and succinctly convey the key points...
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