I remember using Quizlet in my undergrad days. It’s been around a long time because it works so well.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
If you’re in school, you’re probably familiar with Quizlet, but in case you’re not (or not familiar with everything it can do), this gold-standard studying tool is worth a little review. I used this in undergraduate school, graduate school, and over the long course of my tutoring career. The reason is simple: It is easy to use and it works.
What is Quizlet?
Quizlet is a study tool that works on iOS, Android, and your desktop browser. It helps you make flashcards and practice tests, plus offers games and various ways to study and review your materials. You can make your materials public to help other people in similar classes and, in turn, can search their public materials for ones that will help you, too. Your flashcard sets and quizzes are customizable, so you can add notes, images, or audio if you need to.
How does Quizlet work?
You start by creating a study set, which means you enter in your flashcard prompts and answers. This can be very simple and rudimentary, involving manually entering the prompts and answers yourself, or you can scan a document, upload images, paste text, or upload a file and let Quizlet generate the set for you.
From there, you can use the set for regular old flashcards, which is a tried-and-true study technique that works well, take quizzes based on the inputs, or even play games. The games are really cool: You can play matching games or even arcade-style games, like an alien blaster or block breaker, and to progress through them, you need to answer the questions from your flashcards correctly.
Credit: Lindsey Ellefson
A lot of the study methods are customizable, too. If you select “learn” from the list of options, you’ll be asked how familiar you are with the content already and if your goal is to familiarize yourself with it or memorize it outright, then taken to a quiz that uses elements of the Leitner technique, repeatedly asking you the questions you get wrong until you get them right.
Let’s talk about the dark side of Quizlet
If you’re familiar with Quizlet, you’re probably familiar with the fact that you can cheat with it. Let me just say, of course, you shouldn’t do that. As I said, when someone publicly uploads study materials, anyone can see those. I’m not going to pretend users don’t upload entire quizzes and assignments and that, if you search a question directly from a take-home quiz or worksheet, you won’t find that entire quiz or worksheet—complete with answers—uploaded by someone who took the same class a semester or two ago. Copying their answers will get you an A on your immediate assignment, but it won’t help you pass your test because it won’t help you learn. You have to weigh your long-term goals against your short-term ones, I’m afraid. Please do your flashcards and play the study games.
Professors know about this, by the way. I knew about it when I was in undergraduate school 14 years ago and everyone I’ve ever tutored since has known about it, so yes, your professors know. In fact, they complain about it on Reddit. If you’re taking an online quiz and do it at warp speed, they know you’re over on Quizlet hitting CTRL+F on someone else’s quiz and just stuffing the answers into your own. It’s not fooling anyone and, again, you won’t learn this way, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring it up.
And now let’s talk pricing
You can do a decent amount on Quizlet just by using its free features, which allow you to make study sets, take practice tests, and play those fun games games. Unfortunately, if you don’t pay, you’ll only get five rounds of the “learn” quiz mode and one practice test per study set.
Paying $35.99 per year (after a seven-day free trial) or $7.99 per month unlocks the amount you can use each feature, removes ads from your user experience, enables you to study offline, and grants you the ability to add images, chart, audio, and rich text to your sets.
Some people may use it nefariously, but the fact is pretty much everyone uses Quizlet—or should, at least. The options are better suited to straightforward memorization, given that no matter which mode you choose, you’re still just matching an answer to a question, but that works, prepares you for tests, and ingrains the information in your brain, so no problem. Overall, Quizlet is a perfect study tool and I especially love the game modes for keeping things interesting. There’s a reason it’s lasted so long.
