Don’t have any flashcards and don’t feel like leaving your desk to go get more? Fear not, StudyBlue is here.

Last semester I was introduced to StudyBlue by my art history professor and although skeptical at first I ended up using and actually enjoying it. StudyBlue is a flashcard software and app, that if used properly can be your best friend come test time. It’s pretty straight forward as far as the user interface goes. Once you register, your files are stored in a section named “Backpack”, so in my case it was Rob’s Backpack. You can further arrange items in your backpack whichever way you’d like; I recommend arranging them first by class and then move on from there.

Creating flashcards is rather simple from a computer (I never created any from the iPad so I don’t have much info on that). Add as much info as you’d like per flashcard side, add an image, even a sound recording and hit save. If you use Evernote, you can merge/sync/upload your notes into StudyBlue.

You can create as many as you want and organize them by sections, and then study section by section. For Example:

Click on a section and it’ll look like this:

Take a sip of your coffee or energy drink and then hit Study Now. Now in my case, StudyBlue would first show me the painting, I would then try to recall the artists name, painting’s title, genre, and a rough guess of the year it was created.

Here is an example:

Side 1:

then you click on the slide and it flips it over to Side 2:

You click  thumbs up if you got it right, or thumbs down if you got it incorrect (duh) and move on to the next flashcard. Once you’ve completed the section StudyBlue will keep statistics of your scores and let you know your progress or lack thereof. You can also set up filters on the flashcards such as, only studying the ones you get wrong and strengthening your weak points.

The other cool thing about this app is if you’re good enough and can manage to persuade your professor to do it, THE PROFESSOR CAN CREATE THEM FOR THE ENTIRE CLASS!! And if your professor already uses it, StudyBlue allows you to track them down by University or College and class.

To summarize:

• Free to join and use.
• Mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android to study on the go.
• Easy to use software and interface.
• Keeps statistics
• (You can be the hero of your class if) Professor creates a class set for upcoming test.
• The flashcards can also be set to private if needed.
• It’s Paper-Less
• If you use Evernote, you can sync them and create flashcards from that
• http://www.studyblue.com/ <—Check them out today

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