Mindpicnic

=__Description__=

A lesson is a generic term for cardboxes, books, links and notes. The cardbox Personal Pronouns is a lesson under the "German Vocabulary: The Basics" course. Cardboxes are further partitioned, namely into cards. Each card contains a question and an answer. We usually call these flashcards. Mindpicnic contains two progress bars, which are in the same place as those for each lesson. The upper bar shows how much of the complete course you still know. The lower bar shows you how your knowledge is distributed on the individual lessons.
 * Mindpicnic is a site that offers free courses online. A course at Mindpicnic consists of an ordered combination of cardboxes, books, links, and notes regarding a topic of the learner’s choice. An example for a course is [|German Vocabulary: The Basics] that consists of 27 lessons. **


 * The most important attribute to Mindpicnic is that it is made for people who want to learn more than just the courses created by others. It allows people to create a course and add lessons. You can even add a new book to your course and a cardbox created by someone else **

=Impact on Teaching and Learning= Mindpicnic can make an impact on teaching because it allows teachers a tool to provide students extra help on courses such as Algebra and Physics. The courses are self-paced and will allow the teachers to keep track of the progress of the students. Students learn from an effective flashcard method and can also keep track of the material they are retaining. =Practical Applications=

Mindpicnic is great for learning a language. You not only see a flashcard, but practice saying the words in order to gain a deeper understanding of the translation. Math and physics courses not only allow the student to learn the formulas, but also input the formulas he/she wants to learn into a flashcard using a document markup formula called LaTeX. Another practical application is to join a group in which you can share your courses with friends or to discuss study material. Learners cannot only discuss their courses on the Community page, but they can keep up with the latest news within Mindpicnic, participate in blogs, and polls to determine the future of Mindpicnic. =Example=

To add a new book and a cardbox to your course you would first set up your book. You do this by clicking on the “Create Page ”, then clicking on “Create book ” and type in the title or the ISBN of the book. Select the right book from the search results and Mindpicnic takes care of everything else. Creating links works the same way, for cardboxes and notes you need to enter some additional content. Now, go to the cardbox you wan to add to your course. A dark green box on the right side of the page let’s you add the flashcards to your course. Click on “Publish and Learn.” You are done!

Author

 * Vanessa Rodgers, Educational Technology master's student. **