Cram - Study at the Speed of Light

No matter what you are studying it seems that there is never enough time to do it. And, as if you were not in enough trouble already, the object of your interest is always too complex and you cannot grasp any logical connections or you just consider it to be extremely boring, even though you must learn everything about it. In fact, all those “cramming” sessions are made a living hell by the lack of an efficient learning method.

Cram is trying to solve your problem by combining two “conventional” ways of studying: the flash card learning system and the exam simulation. The result is a clean application that provides simple functions designed to speed up your work.

The Looks

The Cram interface design successfully manages to organize all the features in one simple yet good-looking window. The functions are logically organized in three separate areas. On the left you can see the available categories and every time you select one you will be able to see the tests that are currently assigned to that group. On the top of the window you can find the rest of the features, which are made available through buttons arranged in three separate groups.

The Works

An important piece in the Cram workflow is the actual quizzes. Cram provides the possibility to go online and see all the tests that have been uploaded by other users and allows you to download them in order to take them or to use them for studying, but I personally believe that you will have better results if you make the tests yourself.

Each time you start generating a quiz you are forced to go through the subject over and over again in order to find topics for questions, correct answers or wrong variants. The whole process actually helps you learn without even realizing.

When you start making a new test you can choose to make it a timed one in order to simulate the exam atmosphere, but you can also decide to have the questions and the answers displayed randomly. This way neither you nor anyone who will take the test will be tempted to cheat. For each question you can attach an image or an audio file, but you can also use the Answer Bank in order to generate the incorrect answers.

The Answer Bank is a database of all the terms or expressions that can represent a correct answer in your test. It will be used to randomly generate possible answers and you will have to specify the correct one. The result is that you will easily get familiar with the terms and realize the distinctions between them at the same time.

When it comes to the technical details of creating a test, although Cram opens other windows to allow you to input the information, their use is highly intuitive as they follow basic usability rules.

Still, if you don’t have the time to do that you can access the Test Portal by pressing the button situated at the top of the window. You will be able to see the tests organized by category, but you will also have the possibility to use the search tab. This way you can find tests that are published by your friends and are focused on your particular subject, but you can see other opinions on the matter as well.

Of course, you can also choose to share your own quizzes by pressing the Share Test button. You will be able to see all your shared tests in the My Uploads window and easily remove them if you change your mind, without erasing the quiz from your own computer.

The best part is that you don’t actually have to take the test to see the content. You can press the Study button and see each question and its answer as a flash card. Whenever you think you are ready just press the Start Test button and see how much you have assimilated. At the end you will be able to see your score and all the correct answers. Also, if you retake the test your previous score can be found in the History window.

One of Cram’s innovative functions can actually be accessed through the Preferences window. If you are the owner of a Twitter account, the Connect panel allows you to authorize Cram to publish your test score as a Twitter message.

The Good

Cram does not just help you test your skills; it also allows you to learn fast. This way you can gain knowledge and confidence without wasting time.

The Bad

The information that you can use for your Cram tests must be very concise, and, although it makes you compress your knowledge to significant terms, less is not necessarily better.

The Truth

If you are looking for an efficient way to easily organize your learning sessions and to get familiar with the multiple choice exam atmosphere, Cram will definitely do the trick.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action: