Quizlet

Quizlet is an American online study application that allows students to study information via learning tools and games.[3] It was created by Andrew Sutherland in October 2005 and released to the public in January 2007.[4] Quizlet trains students via flashcards and various games and tests. As of February 6, 2019, Quizlet has over 300 million user-generated flashcard sets and more than 50 million active users.[5] It now ranks among the top 50 websites in the U.S.[6] In 2016, Quizlet was recognized by SimilarWeb as the fastest growing US Education site in 2015.[7]

Quizlet

Quizlet logo
Screenshot Screenshot of the website's homepage (not logged in).
Type of site	Education
Available in	English, German, Spanish, Chinese (Traditional and Simpified), Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (BR),[1] Polish, Russian, French, Quebec French, Indonesian, Dutch, Italian, Turkish, Vietnamese
Headquarters	San Francisco, California
Area served	Select locations in the world
Owner	Quizlet Inc.
Founder(s)	Andrew Sutherland
Key people	Matthew Glotzbach (CEO)
Revenue	Freemium (ads/subscriptions)
URL	quizlet.com
Alexa rank	238 worldwide, 49 in the U.S. (February 2019)[2]
Registration	Optional
Launched	January 17, 2007 (2007-01-17)

History

Quizlet was conceived by Sutherland while he was studying for his French class.[8][9] To aid in memorizing words, he began writing a program to help him study.[10] These first lines of code were deleted and then rewritten over a course of 420 days. In October 2005, Quizlet was released to the public.[11]

Until 2011, Quizlet shared staff and financial resources with the Collectors Weekly web site.[12] In 2015, Quizlet announced raising $12 million from Union Square Ventures, Costanoa Venture Capital, Altos Ventures and Owl Ventures to expand its digital study tools and grow internationally.[6]

In 2011, Quizlet added the ability to listen to content using text-to-speech.[13] In August 2012, Quizlet released an app for the iPhone and iPad and shortly afterward released an app for Android devices.[12]

On April 29, 2015, Quizlet enabled HTTPS on their site.[14].

On August 10, 2016, Quizlet introduced a revamp to their website with a new design interface, along with a new logo and homepage. Their mobile apps for iOS and Android also received a design interface update.[15]

On August 23, 2017, Quizlet introduced a new diagramming feature[16] to help learners with subjects heavy on visuals like geography, vocabulary, anatomy, and architecture.

On February 6, 2018, Quizlet announced that it had raised an additional $20 million in Series B funding,[17] led by Icon Ventures.

On October 31, 2018, Quizlet announced the opening of their second office, which was located in Denver.[18]

On February 11, 2020, Quizlet introduced Night Mode to all of its users. Before this, Night Mode was only available for users with paid subscriptions.[19][20]

Study modes and games

As a memorization tool, Quizlet lets registered users create sets of terms and definition customized for their own needs.[21] These sets of terms can then be studied under several study modes.[22][23]

Flash Cards

This mode is similar to paper flash cards. Users are shown a "card" for each term, which they can flip over by clicking or using the arrow keys or space bar.[24] The user has the option for the face of the card to be an image, a word, or both.

Gravity

In this study mode, definitions scroll vertically down the screen in the shape of asteroids. The user must type the term that goes with the definition before it reaches the bottom of the screen. It is one of the 'Play' study modes.[25] Gravity was adapted from a previous game, Space Race. The user can pick the level of difficulty and game type.

Write

In this study mode, users are shown a term or definition and must type the term or definition that goes with what is shown. After entering their answer, users see if their answer was correct or not, and can choose to override the automatic grading and count their answer as right if needed. This mode was previously called "Learn."

Speller

In this mode, the term is read out loud and users must type in the term with the correct spelling. If the user gets every answer correct, they are rewarded with a video of a monster truck doing a jump, wheelie, and a flip. [24]

Match

In this study mode, users are presented with a grid of scattered terms. Users drag terms on top of their associated definitions to remove them from the grid and try to clear the grid in the fastest time possible. Micro-match is a related matching game geared towards mobile devices and devices with small screens. Users may access the Micromatch mode on non-mobile devices by manually editing the URL in Match mode to use "micromatch" instead of "match".[24] Match was previously attributed as "Scatter". Though the name of the study mode changed, the game itself did not.

Live

In this study mode, a Quizlet user (usually a teacher) breaks their class up into teams of however number of teams they want or play the game with students individually. The teacher chooses whether to start with a definition or term. Each team will have to choose the correct term/definition to win, with the team that has the most points winning. If the teacher decides to shuffle the teams, the groups are randomly put into new teams. This game works by choosing a set of flashcards and putting these flashcards into a format which works for the game. If a player or team chooses the incorrect term or definition,the score will reset.

Controversy

Quizlet, similar to other user generated content platforms, students on Quizlet often upload information that one can use to cheat within the classroom. [26] In a survey at a High School in Orlando, a student was quoted saying “If someone put $100 in front of you, would you take it?” asked the student who used Quizlet to cheat in high school."

API

Quizlet provides an API that allows others to access Quizlet data. Available functions include uploading and downloading flashcards, modifying users' flashcards, and finding definitions created by Quizlet users.[27]

See also

• Kahoot
• Wordly Wise

References

1. "Quizlet in other languages - Quizlet". Quizlet.
2. "Quizlet.com Traffic, Demographics and Competitors - Alexa". www.alexa.com. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
3. "A new milestone for Quizlet: 50 million monthly learners". Inside Quizlet blog. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
4. "QUIZLET". The Innovation Economy, presented by Intel, in partnership with the Aspen Institute, PBS Newshour. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
5. Quizlet Mission Page.
6. Kolodny, Lora (November 23, 2015). "Quizlet Raises $12 Million to Take Its Popular Study Tools International". Retrieved November 23, 2015.
7. "SimilarWeb Digital Visionary Awards: 2015". SimilarWeb. January 21, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
8. Tynan, Dan. PC World. (March 9, 2008) "Meet the Whiz Kids: 10 Overachievers Under 21".
9. The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet.
10. "QUIZLET: Join millions and Build Your Own Flashcards, Game Yourself to Smart". SF New Tech. November 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
11. MIT / "Quiz Yourself"].
12. "Quizlet's Growth Puts It on the Top of the Edtech Stack". EdSurge. November 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
13. "Quizlet Now Offers "Speller" Mode in 18 Languages". Free Technology for Teachers. July 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
14. "Quizlet is now 100% secured with HTTPS". April 29, 2015.
15. "Meet the new Quizlet". Retrieved August 10, 2016.
16. "Introducing Quizlet Diagrams". Quizlet Blog. August 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
17. Roof, Katie. "Quizlet raises $20 million for virtual flash cards". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
18. "Quizlet is coming to Denver". Quizlet. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
19. "Try Night Mode on Quizlet". Quizlet. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
20. Quintana, Alex (April 30, 2018). "Stay up late with Quizlet Night Theme". Quizlet. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
21. Wendy Boswell. Life Hacker. (January 28, 2007) "Practice your vocabulary with Quizlet".
22. Barbara Feldman. The Boston Globe (November 26, 2010) .
23. "What are the different ways I can study my flash cards?". Archived November 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Quizlet FAQ.
24. "Engagement for Memory: Try Quizlet". Jeanne Farrington. October 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
25. "Quizlet Raises $12M Series A". VentureTracker. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
26. {{Cite news|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/05/14/professors-warned-about-popular-learning-tool-used-students-cheat
27. "Quizlet Flashcards API". Retrieved May 2, 2017.

External links

• The Quizlet website