Lautaro's ICT PLE

Cram is a free online tool for creating, sharing, and studying digital flashcards. It allows both teachers and students to build their own sets of vocabulary or grammar items with text and images, and to study them through interactive modes such as Memorize, Test, or Games.

How to use it

Step 1 – Create an Account

Go to https://www.cram.com.
Click Sign Up (top-right corner).
Register with your email + password or log in with Google.
Once logged in, your dashboard (“My Flashcards”) will appear.

Step 2 – Create a New Set

Click the blue Create New Set button.
Give your set a title (for example: Phrasal Verbs with Get).
Optionally add a short description and subject tags so you can find it later.
Under Card 1, type a term or question on the front and its definition, translation, or example on the back.
Click Add a New Card to keep going until you have your full list (10–20 cards is ideal).
When you finish, press Save.

Step 3 – Edit and Format

You can reorder or delete cards by using the icons beside each one.

Step 4 – Study Your Set

Click your saved set title to open it. Along the top you’ll see several study modes:

Flashcards: This is the classic mode. Flip each card to reveal the answer and move through the set at your own pace. It’s great for your first review.
Memorize: In this mode, Cram shows you the cards repeatedly until you get each one right. It’s based on spaced repetition and helps reinforce long-term memory.
Test: This feature automatically generates a quiz from your flashcards. You can choose multiple-choice, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank questions. It’s perfect for self-assessment or for teachers who want to evaluate students’ understanding.
Games: Cram includes fun games like Jewels of Wisdom and Stellar Speller, which turn revision into a playful challenge. These are especially useful for younger learners or for keeping motivation high.

Encourage students to try different modes to suit their learning style.

Step 5 – Create a Class Folder (Optional)

Teachers can group several sets inside one “folder” for each unit or topic:

Click Create New Folder on your dashboard.
Add multiple existing sets to it.
Share the folder link with students so they have one place for revision.

Step 6 – Track and Reflect

After studying, Cram shows your progress and correct/incorrect answers in the Memorize or Test sections.
Students can take screenshots or note their accuracy to include in a short reflection paragraph (“Which words were hardest? What helped you remember them?”).

Benefits

The main benefit of using Cram in language teaching lies in its capacity to foster autonomous vocabulary learning through repeated exposure in a motivating, game-like format. By allowing students to access their study sets anytime, monitor their progress, and collaborate by sharing decks, the tool promotes self-regulated learning and responsible digital practices, in line with the digital engagement principles outlined in DigCompEdu (Redecker, 2017). Cram also supports multimodal learning by enabling the combination of images and words, which strengthens memory and comprehension, particularly at the remembering and understanding levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom, 1956), and can extend to application when students use newly acquired vocabulary in meaningful contexts. From a technological integration perspective, Cram aligns with the SAMR model (Puentedura, 2006), functioning as substitution when digital flashcards replace paper ones and reaching modification when learners collaborate and interact online. Furthermore, its use reflects the TPACK framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), as it combines technological knowledge with pedagogical strategies and content knowledge to enhance vocabulary development, potentially supported by AI-based tools such as large language models (OpenAI, 2025) to generate contextualized examples and practice activities.

My Example

https://www.cram.com/flashcards/personality-adjectives-14793378

Title: Adjectives for Describing People

Cards: 10

Front example: “generous” → Back: “willing to give or share"

Suggested Classroom Task

Task: Vocabulary Revision with Digital Flashcards

Instructions

Students will create and study digital flashcards on Cram to review vocabulary from the current unit. Each student will design at least 10 cards including the target word, its part of speech, and an example sentence. They will then use the “Memorize” and “Test” modes to self-assess their progress. The teacher can project a shared set for a group game or Kahoot-style quiz.

Framework Connection

According to the SAMR model, this activity represents Augmentation, as it uses technology to enhance traditional flashcard learning by adding interactivity and automatic feedback. In Bloom’s taxonomy, it supports Remembering and Understanding, as students recall and apply vocabulary in context.

References

Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Longmans, Green.
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK): A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record.
OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/
Puentedura, R. (2006). Transformation, technology, and education: The SAMR model. Hippasus.
Redecker, C. (2017). European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators: DigCompEdu. Publications Office of the European Union.