Using Study Stack to “Study Smart”
StudyStack.com is a proprietary website designed to help people memorize information about various subjects. Using Study Stack, students can use their computers to display a stack of “virtual cards” which contain information about a certain subject. Just like flashcards, they can review the information at their own pace discarding the cards they’ve learned and keeping the ones they still need to review. Unlike traditional flash cards, each card can show multiple pieces of information and the whole stack can be automatically sorted by any one of the pieces of information.
Instructors can register with this website and create their own Study Stacks for various subjects. When data is entered for a Study Stack, the same data can automatically be displayed as flashcards, a matching game, a word search puzzle, and a hangman game. Your Study Stacks can be saved and organized in your own personal area in the website.
I initially started using Study Stack in 2007 as an online reference for our students to help prepare them for the RHIT and CCA preparatory examinations. Since then, I have created Study Stacks for other HIM subjects such as quality assurance and healthcare management. I am currently developing Study Stacks for the upcoming transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS.
Study Stack is a powerful web-based tool which is easy to use and compatible with current online educational delivery methods. Based on these attributes and my experience with the program, I would wholeheartedly recommend www.studystack.com to everyone.
Some Additional Information about Study Stack:
•Study Stack is free of charge for both instructor and student; just sign up and agree to the terms and conditions.
•You can export and/or copy the Study Stacks that you create. I usually export my Study Stacks and distribute them.
•You can share the Study Stacks that you create with others on the website, but you can’t limit access to those stacks on the website.
•If you choose to share, it is open to all and gets relegated to a general studies category which is very large, making a particular stack difficult to find.
Deborah Balentine, MEd, RHIA, CCS-P is an Adjunct Instructor in the Health Information Technology Program at Northwestern College Chicago Campus. This innovative educator is always on the lookout for classroom enrichment tools. She uses StudyStack.com as one of many creative learning tools to enhance classroom activities with puzzles, flashcards, and games to help students internalize learning in a fun way.