Last March I wrote about Zen.do, which is a free site that allows students to take notes as normal, while it automatically builds a study guide of related flashcards. Students can then review the flash cards as a study tool. There is a built in algorithm to optimize the review time of the students as they use the flash cards.
I just received an email from on the the partners for Zen.do announcing that they have evolved and rebranded Zen.do into StudyEgg. It's a free service that integrates videos, help, quizzing and learning techniques.
What is StudyEgg?
StudyEgg quizzes students on great open source videos from Khan Academy, MIT OpenCourseWare, OpenUniversity, Yale, TEDed and more by pacing them through the videos with rich questions and helpful explanations. Students can feel confident that they are learning the material presented in the videos through instant feedback from the questions they are asked. The StudyEgg library currently features over 100 different science videos, with more being added each week!
StudyEgg is a good tool for students to use as review or extra help about a topic and get both instant assessment of how they are doing, as well as explanations of the topic.
StudyEgg starts out with a question on the topic you select, and then if you get it wrong, will show you a video explaining the topic and why the correct answer is correct. Questions can be timed and there is an "I don't know" button that will take you to the video that will explain the topic for you. You get feedback on your progress as you go along.
There are 5 main subject areas (Biology, Chemistry, TED Ed, Psychology and Critical Social Psychology) right now, with many more coming. They did just launch after all.
StudyEgg is also integrated into Edmodo, giving teachers an insightful dashboard that allows them to know how their students are doing on StudyEgg lessons individually and as a whole class. This is a great way to track which students are doing the work and who may be looking for help.
Check it out and share: http://www.studyegg.com/ The developers (students, teachers, scientists, engineers, and hackers who love learning) would also love to get feedback from teachers and students about StudyEgg and how they can improve it.
Now, I'm not a huge fan of the Flipped Classroom Model (assumes students have tech at home and puts lots more homework on them) and while I see uses to Khan Academy, it's not the savior of education (although many see it at that) and can't be the only way students learn. These types of models and resources can be part of a teacher's (and student's) tools to help differentiate learning and help students succeed. They should not be over used. They are great resources for helping students and for students to use as self-review and self-help. I think StudyEgg has created something that combines a lot of great resources into a tool that students and educators can use as part of the learning process.
Related:
zen.do - free tool to take notes and turn them into flashcards
