Internet+Tools

Internet Tools: Produce and Print 1. Flashcard Exchange (http://flashcardexchange.com)

This software was of specific interest to me because we made our own flashcards for one of our continuing education courses and use the cards to help students review with each other. We had to make our cards manually using Microsoft Word which was fairly time consuming because we had to play with the dimensions and locations of the questions and answers. However, we are pleased with the final product because the cards turned out exactly as we planned.

The Flashcard Exchange software was very easy to use and within only a few minutes I was generating flashcards. Unfortunately, I found out that in order to print out the flashcards and add images to the flashcards, I had to pay $19.95 which I did. After paying the money, I found out the software has many limitations. To make the font on the front different than on the back, you have to print them separately (which is not too big a problem). A bigger problem is that you can't vary the font on a given side or on a given card, nor can you use features such as bold and underline. The choice of font styles is also very limited.

Adding figures to the cards also revealed some limitations. I wanted to put the figures behind the text but the software only allows photos to be either on the left or right side of the card. Only very small pictures (< 100 KB) of a specific type (jpg) can be used. Because of the significant versions of the current version of the software, I do not believe the software is worth the $19.95 because using Word is much more powerful and flexible, even though it is not specifically designed for flashcards. Below are examples of 20 flashcards made with the software which show some of the limitations.



2. Puzzlemaker (http://www.puzzlemaker.com)

I have never used software before to create a word search so I decided to try Puzzlemaker because we like to use puzzles in our continuing education classes during breaks as a fun way to review. We do not currently use any word search puzzles. This software was free and very easy to use. I entered in 20 words related to our course and used the recommended 15 x 15 size. We plan to use this puzzle in our classes next week. Below are the puzzle and the solution:



3. Motivational Poster (http://bighugelabs.com/motivator.php)

I have never made a motivational poster before although I have purchased some that we put on our walls in the office, so I decided to try this software. It was very easy to use and free! One of the things that is very important in our Process Burner Fundamentals course is safety. We have 4 rules of fired heater operations. If these rules are not followed, people can get seriously hurt and equipment damaged. I put together a collage of relevant pictures and then put the appropriate rule on top of each picture. This image was used in the motivational poster. Below is the finished product: