Flashcard Maker is an easy to use interactive learning aid for your memory intensive courses. Study efficiency is what Flashcard Maker is all about. It is based on a time-proven method for study. Flashcard Maker is great for any course that requires memorization: foreign language, vocabulary, geography, math, science, history, chemistry, medicine, pharmacology, etc....
Use Flashcard Maker to create your own virtual deck of up to 100 Flashcards per file, on any subject you wish. Flashcard Maker will help you write the cards, answer them, memorize them and stimulate your thinking. Flashcard Maker can speak the answers in English or Spanish. This can be very useful for students learning either of these languages.
Flashcard Maker is distributed as shareware. You may evaluate it for 15 days, after which you must register. You may give it away for non-commercial use provided it is unaltered and this read-me file is preserved and included with all copies. To register, print the order form from the splash screen of Flashcard Maker and send it with your payment to the address printed on the form. Registration is $29.00. A site-license is $149.00.
When you register, you will receive the latest Full Version of Flashcard Maker, a complete printed manual and example files.
** The full version has these additional features **
PRINTING - Print Flashcards with and without answers
SHUFFLE - The option to study Flashcards in random order
CLUES - Gives you one letter at a time when you need it
FLIP - Click to view the answer and click again to move on -- like real Flashcards
Speak feature requires Apple's Speech Manager. (This is also called MacinTalk, MacinTalk Pro, Text-to-Speech, TTS, or PlainTalk. PlainTalk is Apple's term for the collection of software that enables your Macintosh to speak written text and respond to spoken commands. PlainTalk 1.5 includes three components, each with its own installer: English Text-to-Speech, Mexican Spanish Text-to-Speech, and English Speech Recognition.) Spanish or Mexican speech requires MacinTalk Espaûol Mexicano system extension and voices. MacinTalk Pro, using voices especially made for it, works best. All are available, free, online from Apple at http://speech.apple.com/ptk/. English Text-to-Speech is normally included with more recent versions of the MacOS.
Windows and DOS versions of Flashcard Maker are also available.
Getting Started
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When you start the application you will see a blank card on the screen. You are now ready to create your first Flashcard in a new file. This is the same as selecting "New" from the "File" menu from within Flashcard Maker.
If you want to study an existing file, simply double click on the study file icon you want. Or, choose "Open" from the "File" menu from within Flashcard Maker. When you open an existing file you will be in Study mode (not necessarily the study mood). Study mode allows you to answer the questions on the cards. When you have gone through all the cards, your results are shown for that session. Then you may start over or review just the questions you missed.
When study mode starts you will be presented with cards that are in the order in which they were created. The cursor will be positioned at the first question, ready for you to type the answer.
There are different types of Flashcards. If the card is a fill-in-the-blank card, you must press Return or click OK when you are satisfied with your answer. If the card is a True/False or Multiple Choice type, your answer is registered as soon as you press a key.
When you enter an answer, it will be checked by the computer. If it is wrong you will get the "wrong-sound." The answer will be tallied as a wrong answer and you will be given two more chances. If your answer is correct, you will get the "correct-sound" and the cursor will move on to the next question on that card, or the next card.
After you have gone through the full deck of cards in a file you will be shown your study results for that session. Click "Start Over" to start over, or click "Review Missed Questions" to re-study only the cards that had questions you missed.
If the Speech Manager is installed, clicking the Speak button attempts to speak the text that appears within the brackets, regardless of whether the text is the correct answer or not. If the Speech Manager is not installed, the Speak button will not appear.
Modify And Add Cards
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When you have made a new set of cards, by selecting "New" from the "File" menu, you will automatically be put in the Modify mode. To get out of the modify mode click the "Study" button or select "Study" from the "Study" Menu. If you are in the Study mode, you can enter the Modify mode by selecting "Modify Cards" from the "Modify" menu.
To add a new card select "Add Card" from the "Modify" menu, or click on the "Add Card" button when in Modify mode. A new card is inserted just after the currently displayed card. A new card is created as a Fill-in-the-blank type question.
You can display and re-edit any card by clicking on the "<╩Previous" and "Next╩>" buttons.
To move a card to a different position in the sequence, use Cut, Copy and Paste from the Edit menu. Select all the text from the card you want to move, choose Cut from the Edit menu. Then, add a new card where you want it and Paste. IMPORTANT: Any cards that are completely empty when you save or start Study mode are removed.
To change the question type of the currently displayed card, (all the questions on one card are the same type) select "Question Type" from the "Modify Menu." A window is displayed with three choices: Fill-in-the-blank, Multiple choice, and True/False. Click on which question type you want the current card to be then click OK.
Fill-in-the-blank: These are created by typing in a question and leaving a set of brackets [ ] which contain the correct answer.
Example: "The Chicago Bulls are best known for Michael [JORDAN]."
In this example, if you were to enter Study mode, the type within the brackets would not be printed. Instead, dashes "------" would be displayed for you to type over with the correct answer.
Multiple Choice: These are created by typing in a question with a selection of answers, each with an associated letter or number. And, type the associated letter of the correct answer within a set of brackets [ ].
Example: "The Chicago Bulls are best known for A: Larry Bird B: Michael Jordan Answer: [B]"
In this example, if you were to enter Study mode, the answer between the brackets would show a "-". Any letter you type, as soon as you type it, is taken as your answer.
True/False: These are identical to Multiple Choice except only T or F are the expected answers. Again, the correct answer T, or F is entered within the brackets [ ].
Notes On Additional Features
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This section covers some of the features included with the full version of Flashcard Maker.
The Clue feature is a button that is available while you are studying. It gives you one additional letter within the brackets each time you select Clue.
The Flip feature is a button that is available while you are studying. Clicking the Flip button reveals the answer. Clicking again moves on to the next question. One can study by using the Flip button exclusively, just by thinking what the answer is, clicking to view the answer, and moving on. This is instead of typing the answer and clicking OK. Often, this is the most efficient way to study and is most like real Flashcards.
Selecting Shuffle from the Study menu randomizes the order of the cards. From then on, the cards will be in a new random order each time you study, including the times you choose to review missed questions. Selecting Unshuffle will display the cards in the order they were created.
The full version prints Flashcards. Each card is printed twice on each page; once without the answer and once with the answer.
The tester application has no way to modify or create cards. It is Study Mode only. It does not have Printing, Flip or Clue features. It is a "player-only" application meant for teachers to use in order to protect their Flashcard files from being modified by their students. Also, because there is no Modify mode, Flip, Clue or Printing, this prevents students from viewing the answers without studying them. (First use the full version to create a study file.)
