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    Creating a set of flash cards that can be viewed on an iPod, iPhone, iPad, or other mobile devices is actually quite simple.  If you know how to create a Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote presentation, you're only a few steps away from having your own set of digital flash cards.  To create a set of flash cards, complete the following steps:

1. Create a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation, where each slide represents a different flash card (this is the most time-consuming step in the process).

2. When you are creating your presentation, here are some things to consider:
   • Use a font that is easy to read and not too fancy.  Tahoma, Arial, Verdana, Comic Sans, and Times New Roman are common, reader-friendly fonts.  My font of choice for iPod flash cards is Tahoma.
   • Use a large font size.  When viewing flash card images on the small screen of a mobile device, the larger the font size the better.  When I use the Tahoma font, I typically try to keep the size around 60, and I do my best never to go below 48.
   • Keep your backgrounds simple.  I try to stick to solid colors or backgrounds with a very faint texture.  Busy backgrounds tend to make the text more difficult to read.
   • Try not to put too much information on any one slide.  Too much text on an iPod screen can be confusing.
      

3. PowerPoint users (Keynote users skip to Step #5):  When you are finished with the presentation and are ready to convert it to flash cards, click File > Save As.  In the "Save as type" or "Format" drop-down box, select JPEG.  Then select the location in which you want to save your flash cards and click the Save button.  Depending on your version of PowerPoint, you may be prompted with the question "Do you want to export every slide in the presentation or only the current slide?"  If so, click the Every Slide button.  You will then be informed that each slide in your presentation has been saved in a separate folder at the location on your computer that you specified.

4. Next, open the folder containing the new flash card images you just created.  You'll notice the images are named "Slide1", "Slide 2", "Slide3", etc.  What you now need to do is take a few moments and rename the first nine slides ("Slide1" through "Slide9"), inserting a "0" (zero) before each number in the image's name.  (If you're using PowerPoint for Mac, this may already be taken care of for you, and you'll be able to skip this step.)

   Old Name	New Name
   Slide1 Slide2 Slide3 Slide4 Slide5 Slide6 Slide7 Slide8 Slide9	Slide01 Slide02 Slide03 Slide04 Slide05 Slide06 Slide07 Slide08 Slide09

   This is necessary to ensure your slides stay in the correct order.  Computers typically order files alphabetically.  Files with the same names but different numbers at the end of the file titles are ordered numerically. 

   Order of Images Without Renaming Slides (slides not in correct order)	Order of Images With Renaming Slides (slides in correct order)
   Slide1 Slide11 Slide12 Slide13 Slide14 Slide15 Slide16 Slide17 Slide18 Slide19 Slide20 Slide21	Slide01 Slide02 Slide03 Slide04 Slide05 Slide06 Slide07 Slide08 Slide09 Slide10 Slide11 Slide12

   You can see that by inserting a "0" before the numbers in the first nine slides, you are making every slide contain a two-digit number, thus ensuring your slides will be displayed in the proper order on your computer and/or iPod.  Your flash card images are now ready to be distributed to your students!  Note:  If your set of flash cards contains 100 images or more, you will need to insert "0" or "00" (for the first nine slides) before the number in every slide title, making every file contain a three-digit number and ensuring your slides will be ordered correctly.

5. Keynote users:  When you are finished with the presentation and are read to convert it to flash cards, click File > Export.  At the top of the window that appears, click the Images icon.  Make sure the All button is selected to ensure that a flash card is created for each and every slide.  In the "Format" drop-down box, select JPG (variable quality).  Click Next.

6. Name your set of flash cards in the "Save As" box and select where you want the set saved.  It is recommended you save the flash cards in a separate folder in order to keep them organized.  Click Export.  Your flash card images are now ready to be distributed to your students!

1. More than likely, you are now going to want to post the flash card images on your classroom website for students and parents to download.  To do so, you’ll want to create a .zip file containing all of your flash card images.  A .zip file is a single file that acts more like a file folder.  It contains one or more files that have been compressed to reduce file size.  .zip files are great because, when posted online, they allow users to download a single file (containing multiple other files) instead of having to download each file separately. 

2. If you're on a PC, you can create a .zip file of your flash card images by following these steps:
        »  Right-click the folder containing the flash card images.
        »  Select Send To > Compressed (zipped) folder
   If you use a Mac, you can create a .zip file of your flash card images by following these steps:
        »  Control-click the folder containing the flash cards images.
         »  Select Create Archive of "file name" (where file name is the
            name of the folder)

3. After your .zip file has been created, upload the file to your website.  Visitors can then download the file, extract the images, and sync them to their mobile device.

1. Download a .zip file containing flash card images.  If you already have the images in a folder on your computer, skip to Step #3.

2. Extract the images from the .zip file.  PC users: Right-click on the .zip file and select "Extract All..."  Mac users: Simply double-click on the .zip file.  You will now have a new folder containing all of the extracted flash card images.

3. Create a new folder on your computer called "Digital Flash Cards."

4. Drag the folder containing the extracted flash card images into the newly created "Digital Flash Cards" folder.

5. Open iTunes, connect your iPod/iPhone/iPad to your computer, and click on the Photos tab.

6. Check the box next to "Sync Photos from," and in the dropdown menu, locate and select the "Digital Flash Cards" folder.

7. Click the "Apply" button in the lower, right-hand corner of the iTunes window.  This will transfer the flash card images to your iPod/iPhone/iPad.

8. To view the flash cards, select Photos on your iPod/iPhone/iPad, and then select the folder in which the images are stored.

9. Tap or click on the first thumbnail image to begin the flash card slideshow.  Swipe or click the "Next" button to advance to the next image.

Note: These flash cards can also be transferred to and displayed on other mobile devices such as PSPs, Android phones, Windows phones, and any cell phone that accepts JPG images.  To sync to these devices, please use the software and instructions that came with the device.

References:
Vincent, T. (2008, February 9). iPods Episode #09: Photos Part 1. Retrieved July 13, 2008,
     from Learning in Hand Website: http://cdn.libsyn.com/vincent/iPods09.m4a

Vincent, T. (2008, March 1). iPods Episode #10: Photos Part 2. Retrieved July 13, 2008,
     from Learning in Hand Website: http://cdn.libsyn.com/vincent/ipods10.mp3

"ZIP (file format)." Wikipedia. 15 Jan 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_(file_format)>.

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