[BlindMath] What are your experiences with Spaced Repetition Systems?

[Aaron Cannon]

Hi.

I love spaced repetition. I haven't really had much luck with Anki either,
but SRS software in general has been good to me.

I generally use the app called Flashcards Deluxe from Orange or Apple
Software.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashcards-deluxe/id307840670

The author is very responsive to accessibility concerns, and has been
updating the app for years, which is quite rare in this world of
abandonware.

He makes it quite simple to upload new card decks to your phone.

Good luck.

Aaron


On Fri, Mar 15, 2024 at 2:38 PM Bill Dengler via BlindMath <
blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Rastislav,
> Last time I used an SRS (for language learning and preparing for an
> International Baccalaureate psychology exam that required remembering a
> large number of studies), I had success with Flashcards Deluxe (available
> on iOS and I think Android as well). I preferred to use the app's embedded
> TTS and action confirmation sound effects, and disable VoiceOver, then
> swipe up/down/left/right to act on the cards. That said, it's very
> customizable and you can interact with the app in all sorts of ways.
>
> Bill
> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Rastislav
> Kish via BlindMath
> Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2024 10:20 PM
> To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics <
> Blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Rastislav Kish <rastislav.kish at protonmail.com>
> Subject: [BlindMath] What are your experiences with Spaced Repetition
> Systems?
>
> Hello list,
>
> for those who have never heard of them, a very brief introduction, SRS is
> a flashcard style learning technique based on two scientifically well
> proven facts about human memory:
>
> - Recall is a more efficient learning technique than rereading. Simply
> put, if you’re given 10 pairs of words, one in your language and another in
> a foreign language, reading them and then trying to recall what you’ve just
> read yields much better results than just reading the pairs multiple times.
> - Each recall drills the recalled concept deeper into your memory, and the
> effect is the stronger the closer you are to forgetting the concept,
> exponentially increasing the time it’s going to last in your mind. This is
> known as the forgetting curve.
>
> SRS take advantage of these two facts. You create decks of flashcards
> covering a particular topic, the subject pretty much doesn’t matter, can be
> anything from foreign languages through medicine to quantum physics. Then,
> the computer queries you for each QA pair in time when you’re just about to
> forget it. This:
>
> - Significantly reduces the attention you need to pay to studying, because
> you’re encountering everything only when it’s really necessary, with a lot
> of saved time you can make use of to either learn even more, or do some
> other stuff.
> - Makes sure you don’t miss anything, the computer is not gonna forget any
> pair.
>
> Creating the flashcards takes some time and engagement, but when you
> already do so, you can literally have thousands of them and the computer
> will drill them to your brain in the most efficient way possible. Probably
> the most common application in this field is Anki:
>
> https://apps.ankiweb.net/https://apps.ankiweb.net/
>
> And, as the website nicely summarizes:
>
> > Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy. Because it’s a
> lot more efficient than traditional study methods, you can either greatly
> decrease your time spent studying, or greatly increase the amount you learn.
>
> now, I’m interested:
>
> - Whether you have successfully employed any SRS in your study and what
> have you used.
> - How satisfied were you with the technical side of your software i.e.
> convenience of usage, accessibility, functions of the program (like
> multimedia support, availability on different platforms and their
> integration, equation support etc.).
> - How would you imagine an ideal SRS interface specifically for creating
> flashcards. In particular, I’m interested whether you’d prefer traditional
> GUI methods, or, if you would be more for something in style of
> [markdown2anki](https://github.com/Mochitto/Markdown2Anki) (the relevant
> Reddit thread [here](
> https://i.opnxng.com/r/Anki/comments/11sttop/a_new_way_of_building_anki_cards_also_with_code/)),
> as someone who deals with plenty of coding and being an enthusiastic git
> user, I do have a thing for these text-based input methods, but I’m not
> sure what’s the general attitude of visually impaired STEM folks.
>
> Also, I wonder if we have more mailing lists similar to BlindMath, perhaps
> targeted to STEM in general. Since, this is related to mathematics, but not
> by any means only to mathematics, as mentioned in the introduction, memory
> plays an important role regardless of the subject, be it math, physics,
> biology, chemistry, neuroscience, computer science, etc.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Best regards
>
> Rastislav
>
> ​
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