An Introduction to Knowt: Read This First

Welcome to Knowt. After you sign up for an account (my Knowt referral code is ac3tug), here are some recommended things to do on your computer to make the most of this program:

1. Know Knowt’s limitations
   You can’t put links, telephone numbers, or other related personal information in public Knowt notes — something you should know if you decide to create a note with contact information, regardless of whether it’s yours or that of a public organization. If you do put external contact information or directories in a Knowt note, your note will automatically be made private and cannot be made public again. It’s why I can’t link anything below; search for anything you’re unsure about if I mention anything obscure.

2. Install an adblocker

   Most of the people I’ve referred to here are using Knowt on their Chromebooks, which usually aren’t fast enough to process both the autoplaying video ads and the heavy Knowt website design. I would recommend installing an adblocker on your browser because of this — or, as a sign of appreciation to the Knowt developers, purchase a Knowt subscription if you are financially able to (just click ‘Upgrade’). Here are some recommended adblockers on the browser addon stores (if you can’t install any of them, ask your technology help desk):

   1. Chromium-based browsers (search the Chrome Web Store):

      1. uBlock Origin Lite — Open source (everyone can view the code for safety) and lightweight.

      2. Adblock Plus — Proprietary (not everyone can view its code) and may let some ads through in the ‘Acceptable Ads’ program (makes the company money by letting ads in), but may work better on managed Chromebooks. There are videos online on how to disable the Acceptable Ads program; I would recomend watching them to ensure you aren’t bothered by advertisements.

   2. Firefox and Gecko-based browsers (search Mozilla addons):

      1. uBlock Origin — The original uBlock Origin, non-lite. Much more efficient.

3. Write your flashcards in smaller chunks

   The flashcards on my profile mainly focus on memorizing smaller and denser amounts of material instead of large blocks of text. Generally, definitions should be less than three lines long; shorter is better. Pictures can be good visual aids to flashcards as well to communicate information.

4. Break up flashcard sets

   Breaking a larger set into separate concepts (by lesson, topic, etc.) will be more effective than studying from or creating large flashcard sets. For the sets in this folder, I would recommend studying by lesson instead of trying to master an entire chapter set at once.

5. Save your coins

   This is more of a cosmetic recommendation, but saving to 500 coins first and then buying the folder customization item can make things look nicer (like in this folder set). Also, note the progressive increases in XP requirements for each level — you will be earning fewer amounts of coins as time passes, though based on what I’ve observed, the amounts do eventually increase at set levels. You can also refer people using your referral code for 100 coins per person.

6. Migrate and delete your Quizlet account and sets

   As a measure of protest, supporting Knowt, and keeping better digital hygiene, I would recommend deleting your Quizlet account (search for their support document to find out how). To aid this transition, you can also refer your friends to Knowt and establish a network effect in your school.

7. Turn off email and push notifications

   Just another cosmetic option if you don’t like receiving too many emails. Go to your settings page, scroll down, and turn off the emails and push notifications that you don’t want anymore.

8. Rate and follow sets and their creators
   This is mainly for exposure to any sets that you find helpful to help others find a set, making overall note quality better on the site. It’ll also help the creator know what to make public or add onto Knowt.

9. Organize your sets

   Finally, make sure you know where each of your sets are. If your class studies from a book, I would recommend creating folders for each chapter and then putting those folders into one class folder (as I have done here). This will save you time trying to find sets and make it easier for people in the future to study from yours as well, if you leave them public. Also consider adding tags to your sets to make them easier to find.