Digital Flashcards

Teamwork
Testing the skill
Us presenting the skill to an audience
Teen bootcamp @ Acorn Aspirations
Elena Sinel - Founder & CEO at Acorn Aspirations
Arun Pattni - our tutor

Inspiration

With the whole team being current students, we collectively found that revising for our exams is time consuming and stressful. This is especially the case when we have to create our own revision materials, such as flashcards, which are small pieces of paper with a question on one side and the answer on the other.

Let alone all of that, the revision process for students with disabilities, such as blindness and dyslexia, is much harder as resources tailored for them are limited, and the traditional pen-and-paper method of writing notes is a challenge. We realised that an Alexa skill would be a well-suited resource for them as the user would only need to use their voice for interaction.

What it does

It's simple: The student chooses a subject, and Alexa tests them on it. Not only does it test their subject, but it also helps to reinforce their knowledge, as well as filling in any gaps, as the correct answers are said after the student has a chance to reply to a question.

Hackathon

This project was produced at the Alexa Bootcamp for Teens run by Acorn Aspirations. This was a 5-day course in which 20 teens gathered to learn how to code in JavaScript for the Alexa Skills Kit.

On the third day, we gathered into teams of 4 for an Alexa skill hackathon, where we brainstormed and came up with our idea. By the fifth day, the hackathon drew to a close, where we then presented our product.

What's next for Digital Flashcards

We're looking to reach out to exam boards and potential partners to see if they would want to create their own exam-board specific 'flashcards' for the skill. In doing this, it will make the skill more accessible for a larger audience of students.

In terms of the skill's features, we are aiming to develop visual cards on Alexa devices that have screens to give the user a better experience.