Digital flash card techniques
Techniques are disclosed for providing a digital flash card function in electronic devices. In an embodiment, a digital flash card includes a word or phrase along with the definition of the word or phrase pulled automatically from a glossary or dictionary. The digital flash card may be created through an options menu after selecting a word or phrase, automatically whenever a word or phrase is highlighted by the user, or whenever a word or phrase is looked up. Once the flash cards have been created, they may be organized into various folders or stacks, and in some cases the flash cards may automatically be organized based on the source of the selected word or phrase. Once one or more flash cards have been created, the user may view flash cards, flip them over to view the opposite side, and scroll through the flash cards using various touch screen gestures.
1. A non-transitory computer program product comprising a plurality of instructions encoded thereon that when executed by one or more processors cause a digital flash card process to be carried out, the process comprising:
in a flash card creation mode:
causing display of digital content on a display operably connected to the one or more processors, wherein the digital content establishes a given context;
detecting a selection of a first portion of the digital content, the first portion corresponding to a question portion of a new digital flash card, wherein the first portion of the digital content is included in a first subsection of the digital content that is designated as a source of the new digital flash card;
after detecting the selection, retrieving an answer portion of the new digital flash card from a networked computing resource, wherein the answer portion of the new digital flash card is responsive to the question portion of the new digital flash card and wherein the answer portion of the new digital flash card depends on the given context;
creating the new digital flash card, wherein the new digital flash card includes the answer portion of the new digital flash card and the question portion of the new digital flash card, and wherein the new digital flash card is associated with the first subsection of the digital content that is designated as the source of the new digital flash card; and
saving the new digital flash card into a collection of digital flash cards that are related by a common characteristic selected from a group consisting of an electronic book, a subject, a chapter, and an assignment; and
in a flash card viewing mode:
selecting, from the collection, a particular digital flash card;
causing display, on the display, of a question portion of the selected particular digital flash card, the question portion of the selected particular digital flash card including a term;
causing display, on the display, of a second subsection of the digital content that is designated as a source of the selected particular digital flash card; and
causing display, on the display, of an answer portion of the selected particular digital flash card after display of the question portion of the selected particular digital flash card and after display of the second subsection of the digital content.
2. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the question portion of the new digital flash card does not include unselected content displayed on the display.
3. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the question portion of the new digital flash card is displayed overlaying at least a second portion of the digital content.
4. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 1 , wherein:
the first portion of the digital content is a quantity of n words; and
the process further comprises, in the flash card creation mode, making a determination that the quantity n is below a threshold quantity.
5. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 1 , wherein:
the first portion of the digital content is a quantity of n words; and
the answer portion of the new digital flash card includes a definition of the quantity of n words.
6. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 1 , wherein:
the first portion of the digital content is a quantity of n words;
the process further comprises, in the flash card creation mode, making a determination that the quantity n is below a threshold quantity, wherein n is 3 or less; and
the new digital flash card is created in response to making the determination.
7. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the question portion of the selected particular digital flash card is displayed in response to detecting selection of the particular digital flash card from the collection.
8. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the first portion and the question portion of the new digital flash card are equivalent.
9. A portable computing device comprising:
a display for displaying digital content;
a processor; and
a flash card creation mode executable on the processor and configured to detect a selection of a first portion of the digital content, the first
portion corresponding to a question portion of a digital flash card,
after detecting the selection, retrieve an answer portion of the digital flash card from a networked computing resource that is external to the portable computing device, wherein the answer portion is responsive to the question portion, and wherein the answer portion is communicated from the networked computing resource to the portable computing device via a communication network,
create the digital flash card, wherein the digital flash card includes the answer portion and the question portion, and wherein the digital flash card further includes both content acquired from the digital content itself as well as content acquired from the networked computing resource that is external to the portable computing device,
cause display, on the display, of the question portion of the digital flash card, and
cause display, on the display, of the answer portion of the digital flash card after display of the question portion of the digital flash card.
10. The device of claim 9 , wherein the flash card creation mode is further configured to display the question portion in response to detecting the selection and retrieving the answer portion.
11. The device of claim 9 , wherein:
the question and answer portions of the digital flash card are within a given context;
the answer portion of the digital flash card is responsive to the question portion within the given context; and
the given context is selected from a group consisting of foreign language study, chemistry, mathematics, a subject matter included in educational materials, and a student's notes associated with the educational materials.
12. The device of claim 9 , wherein the question portion of the digital flash card is displayed overlaying at least a second portion of the digital content.
13. The device of claim 9 , wherein:
the question and answer portions of the digital flash card are within a given context; and
the answer portion of the digital flash card is responsive to the question portion within the given context.
14. A method comprising:
in a flash card creation mode:
causing display of digital content on a display operably connected to one or more processors, wherein the digital content establishes a given context;
detecting a selection of a first portion of the digital content, the first portion corresponding to a question portion of a new digital flash card;
after detecting the selection, retrieving an answer portion of the new digital flash card from a networked computing resource, wherein the answer portion of the new digital flash card is reponsive to the question portion of the new digital flash card, and wherein the answer portion of the new digital flash card depends on the given context;
creating the new digital flash card, wherein the new digital flash card includes the answer portion of the new digital flash card and the question portion of the new digital flash card; and
saving the new digital flash card into a collection of digital flash cards that are related by a common characteristic selected from a group consitsitng of an electric book, a subject, a chapter, and an assignment; and
in a flash card selection mode:
selecting, from the collection, a particular digital flash card;
causing display, on the display of a question portion of the selected particular digital flash card including a term;
causing display, on the display, of a second portion of the digital content where the term is used; and
causing display, on the display, of an answer portion of the selected particular digital flash card after display of the question portion of the selected particular digital flash card and after display of the second portion of the digital content.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first portion of the digital content is included in a first subsection of the digital content that is designated as a source of the new digital flash card, and wherein the new digital flash card is associated with the first subsection.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the display and the one or more processors form part of a portable computing device, and wherein the networked computing resource is external to the portable computing device.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the first portion of the digital content is a quantity of n words; and
the method further comprises, in the flash card creation mode, making a determination that the quantity n is below a threshold quantity.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the first portion of the digital content is a quantity of n words;
n≤3; and
the method further comprises, in the flash card creation mode, making a determination that the quantity n is below a threshold quantity.
19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising, in the flash card selection mode:
presenting the collection of digital flash cards that are related by the common characteristic as a virtual stack of flash cards on the display.
20. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the first portion of the digital content is a quantity of n words and includes non-textual content; and
the method further comprises, in the flash card creation mode, making a determination that the quantity n is below a threshold quantity.