Digital Learning VII: Openness

A free alternative to the Langenscheidt vocabulary trainer that is available on multiple operating systems is the flashcard program Anki.

This already suggests that Anki isn’t just suited for language learning, but for virtually any kind of content that can be represented on flashcards.

Unlike the Langenscheidt vocabulary trainer, Anki is “just” a platform and doesn’t provide any learning content itself.
Users have to create their own flashcards or rely on decks shared by others.

As with the Langenscheidt trainer, the quality of third-party content can vary.

When learning a foreign language, it’s very helpful that Anki allows you to add audio recordings (synesthetic learning).
However, due to Anki’s openness to all types of learning content, the program is barely interactive.

Users have to decide for themselves whether they recalled a word’s translation correctly, and input the result accordingly.
Just like traditional vocabulary notebooks, this requires a certain level of discipline.

Anki is therefore an open learning program because:

• it comes with no built-in content,
• it doesn’t prescribe a specific type of content,
• it is available on multiple operating systems.