Anki Forums

Learning curve for anki

Anki Desktop
#1

I am struggling here. I am a college professor training commercial pilots and instructor pilots. The amount of knowledge that must be learned is enormous as you might suspect.

I’m torn about using anki instead of another app such as quizlet. Students are already sold on the idea of flashcards as a way of learning. But there seems to be a learning curve for anki. I understand that it is probably better because of the space repetition. But if a student finds anki too complicated to just pick up and start using then they won’t.

And the hundreds of hours I’m going to spend to create the decks will be for nothing. So from a effort/reward point of view is quizlet better or am I missing something here?

Is there a simple way to use anki that most students won’t have to struggle to use. Learning aircraft systems is hard enough. Having to learn a software package just to get a fancy flash card app will cause many students to just write their own cards.

Tex

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#2

The learning curve is steep primarily for deck creators. For users, it isn’t that bad (but probably still more than quizlet).

If you provide your students with a correctly set up deck, they should’t need to learn anything apart from downloading it and syncing between desktop and mobile.

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#3

It really depends on what level of self-reliance you expect from your students.

If you want to share a pre-made deck with them all they have to do is to download it, click “show answer” and rate themselves.

All basic usage is covered in youtube videos and described in documentation. I think, it is a starting point for everyone who wants to use Anki. You can choose these which you find useful and do a learning Anki session for your students.

All these fancy stuff that people show depends on your specific needs. You need to learn how to do a proper template or what add-ons will be necessary and how to report bugs if any occur. Also check shared decks. Maybe you will find something from similar area or good templates.

I advice you to post also on reddit Anki. It has a lot of Anki users.

I believe tens of thousands of students use Anki, so such clever people that are able to operate an aircraft will not have any problem, at least with basic usage.

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#4

Is there any way to upload a config file for anki.

For example, in order to keep the students from having to set any setting with their anki download, is there a way to either provide an anki download already set up the way I want it,

Or,

some type of config file they can download that will adjust their anki with the presets I want them to have?

Or,

Must I just provide them with the settings anD let them do it themselves.

Tex

1 Like
#5

You could save the deck options, but in most cases it’s best to keep the decks clean and tell the users to use default options and not tweak those unless they know what they are doing. The end users could change any settings anyway.

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#6

Ok.

Im sorry I have so many questions. I have tried to glean as much as I can from the user manual and youtubes.

In the very beginning of study, right after downloading the deck the students need to be able to see 50 to 100 new cards a day for the first couple of days and then taper off to just a few cards after that, presumably to get a stack of cards presented so that they can be reviewed later. With 10000 or more cards and at 20 new cards per day they will never get through all of then for the first time. How can I adjust that setting for something like that. ie start with many end with fewer.

tex

#7

Get the advice from ‘pilot-users’.
search: site:reddit.com/r/Anki/ pilot
I got 42 hits. Ask them about do’s and dont’s and why’s.

#8

Anki Simulator

Also there is load balancer add-on. But watch this:

To much repetitions a day at the beginning may be daunting for some students. I suggest don’t exceed half an hour daily session at the beginning.

This is a “must see” video:
Guide to Anki Intervals and Learning Steps

You can give them the whole anki deck folder in zip file to download and unpack to proper path. Or just show them screenshots with your settings.

I don’t remember but I think if you export deck with scheduling information (apkg) it also contains deck options. I guess otherwise it wouldn’t be able to keep scheduling correctly.