Flashcards - Addition
Virtual Homeschool International
Flashcards is a web-based application that presents problems to students like a set of flashcards, but in a systematic way that promotes learning. This version of Flashcards presents single-digit addition. Future versions of the application will also include multiple-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division available through a VHI subscription.
If you have already installed Flashcards, you can go directly to the program:
If you have not used Flashcards, you should read the installation instructions.
Installation
To use Flashcards, you first have to download and install Macromedia Authorware Web Player. This provides the engine that downloads and runs the application from this website. (Note that the Authorware Web Player does not work with Flashcards on Macintosh computers.)
To download and install the Authorware Web Player and to access Flashcards, go to the Installation Instructions.
Using Flashcards
You need to install the Authorware Web Player only once. After that, you can just return to the Flashcards page to run the application. Once it downloads and shows the introduction screen, you can press the Next button (or right arrow key on your keyboard) through the initial screens until you reach the main menu.
Addition
At the main menu, click on "Addition" to start the Addition Flashcards. By default, the flashcards take you through fifty one-digit addition problems. When you correctly solve each problem three times in a row, the problem will be taken out of the deck and retired. If you answer a problem incorrectly, Flashcards will take the problem out of the deck and reinsert it. This means that one card is inserted a few cards away, then a few more, and then a few more. This method of reinsertion, based on a technique called "Variable Interval Performance Queueing" (see Alessi & Trollip, 2000, Multimedia for learning: Methods and development. (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon), helps move the information from short-term memory to long-term memory.
Settings
From the main menu, you can change the default settings of the flashcards. You can select the numbers that you want to include in problems (0 through 9), and you can adjust the number of problems presented to the student, up to 50.
Note that, as you select fewer numbers, fewer possible combinations of those numbers are possible. For example, if you select only one number to include (e.g., 1), only one possible problem can be presented (1 + 1). For two numbers (e.g., 1 and 2), three problems are possible (1 + 1, 1 + 2, and 2 + 1). And so on.
Scores
Flashcards scores students' performance. It uses a scoring method that promotes speed and accuracy. The faster the student completes problems without making mistakes, the higher the score. This way, students can compare their performance from one session to another.
If Flashcards is run in trusting mode (see Installation Instructions), it will keep track of high scores for each student, so students can compare their scores for improvement.
Exit
Clicking on Exit from the main menu exits the application. Exiting this application is optional, since quitting the browser effectively quits the application. However, Exiting the application when you keep score ensures that scores will be saved.
Sounds
Students who are interested in getting the higher scores might like to use the sounds that come with the application. To enable the sounds, from the application menu (not the browser menu) select Sounds -> Sounds On, or press CTRL-S. This causes a sound for correct answers and a different sound for incorrect answers. This cues students to how they are performing where they do not have to look at the screen feedback, allowing for faster responses.