I used Anki to learn various Math, Stats, and Software Dev definitions. But it was time consuming and had broken testing effect. I resolved these problems by developing a web app Quizrecall - an automated quiz generator with spaced repetition. Read on as the app may be something for you as well.
Anki Issues
-
Time to create: But I always had a problem with having to spend a lot of time creating my flashcards. Over time I moved from creating a front-back card to just fill-in-the-blank questions to reduce effort. But that still felt too slow. I knew it must be possible to generate the cloze questions automatically. And over time, I developed an algorithm to do that for me.
-
Self-assessment breaks testing effect: Another issue I had with Anki was that I was losing attention during the reviews. I kept zoning out and self-assessing my self as “Good” without actually recalling anything. The issue here is that Anki allows you to keep pushing one green button.
-
Time to review: The last problem for me with Anki was that spending too much time during card review. I tried configuring a time limit to answer, but it only increased the focus problem in point 2 above.
Quizrecall as a solution
I solved all of these problems for myself by developing the app, and I switched entirely recently. It is leveraging the latest Machine Learning (AI) technology. It works only with text, but right now, it is enough.
- Generates fill-in-the-blank (cloze) questions and alternative answers
- Pushes me to select the correct answer from 3 options
- The answer correctness also decreases with the elapsed time needed to answer
Conclusion
I am happy with finding a solution to my issues with Anki. I am committed to using and improving the app over time, because it is genuinely reducing my effort to memorize and learn.
I think you may very well like it as well. You can try it with your favorite Wikipedia article summary.