Quizlet and Cengage have partnered up and are giving Cengage Unlimited subscribers free access to Quizlet Plus.

Quizlet was founded in 2005 by high school student Andrew Sutherland to study for a French exam. Quizlet is the largest online study tool in the U.S., with two-thirds of high school students and half of college students using the program. Quizlet has 30-plus million users each month and has 300-plus million user-created study sets that are available for use, said Thompson Paine, vice president of business development. ­

Quizlet uses eight different activities, including: flashcards, quizzes and games that help students study and comprehend their subjects as well as retain the information longer. Quizlet’s study options complement existing modes of learning but allow students to engage in different ways with any material, Paine said. Its mission is to help students and teachers master the subjects they are learning, while providing engaging and customizable activities, he added.

Creating a Quizlet account is free, allowing users to save progress, create content, upload material, etc. However, students who subscribe to Cengage Unlimited will gain access to Quizlet Plus free for six months, giving them all the subscription upgrades, plus special study content from Cengage to help with their classes, said Paine.

Cengage is an education and technology company aimed at building confidence in the students who use it. Cengage assists K-12 and college students as well as library and workforce training hubs worldwide. The stated mission at Cengage is to build the confidence of every user and to help teachers engage their students.

Cengage Unlimited offers total access to 22,000-plus digital products across 70 disciplines and 675 courses for $119.99 per semester or $179.99 a year. Cengage Unlimited also gives subscribers six months of free access to Quizlet Plus, offering ad-free study time, advanced creation tools and other features on Quizlet. However, Quizlet still offers free limited use of flash cards, quizzes, games and other learning tools.

“Bringing Cengage’s world-class digital course material to the Quizlet platform is a great opportunity for Quizlet users, and we are thrilled to be a part of Cengage’s innovation in the space… our hope is that the partnership with Cengage will help students be successful,” said Paine.

“Affordable access to quality learning is the foundation of Cengage Unlimited,” said Judah Karkowsky, senior vice president of corporate and business development at Cengage. And Quizlet demonstrates the ability to drive immense value as a study tool to 30-plus million active users a month, said Karkowsky.

Julie Pedraza, a research lab tech in the Viticulture and Enology Research Center at Fresno State, learned about Quizlet in 2015 from her peers who were using it to­memorize­terms. She now uses it to tutor students who need to understand vocabulary terms for entomology, pathology, soils, pesticides, etc.

“Quizlet breaks it down in small portions… so they can focus on­memorizing. Once the students know the terms, [they can] spend more time understanding complex concepts and maximizing their critical thinking,” Pedraza said. She recommends students take advantage of the games and quizzes but urges them to fact check other people’s answers. Students must understand that Quizlet is a tool that they should take advantage of, but it should not replace studying, said Pedraza.

Danny Ashley, senior writing tutor in the Learning­Center at Fresno State, learned about Quizlet in high school and has used it for about six years. Ashley recommends students use the flashcard function for memorizing difficult concepts.

“I believe that it helps students’ test scores but hinders them from actually learning and internalizing the information,” Ashley said. “For example, they will be prone to simply memorize the answers and not actually comprehend the content. On the other hand, it can be very beneficial… if used correctly.”

Ashley does not believe the cost of the Cengage subscription is worth it.

“We are seeking quick answers and explanations, … to find quality study material, while we [could] use the professors lectures, notes, classroom textbook or free sources,” he explained.

Hunter Sansom, tutoring intern in the Learning Center, personally uses Quizlet as a study method and says it is utilized in the Tutoring Center with students as a study strategy. She says it is useful because it is not something that can be lost, and students can share/collaborate with friends and other people as well.

Sansom says Quizlet’s tools can be very beneficial for students who do not have the time to study or for those who struggle with studying, but she recommends fact checking answers for credibility if they are using someone else’s content.

When using Quizlet to study for an exam, Sansom says, “make your study sets in advance, not the morning of, and take the time to study for the exam.”

She said she believes that the technological advancement and the sustainability of Quizlet are positive aspects of the website in today’s very tech-savvy world. ­­­­­

To learn more about Cengage Unlimited, visit: www.cengage.com/unlimited. To learn more about Quizlet, visit: www.quizlet.com.