As many CCIE candidates know, the blueprint is massive and gaining knowledge in all areas and then remembering it is difficult. Sometimes when you learn something new an old subject is no longer kept in memory. The problem is that there is so much to read and know that when you have gone the full circle it might have been months since you last read something in one area. One way of trying to solved this is Spaced Repetition System (SRS). A description of SRS from Wikipedia:
“Spaced repetition is a learning technique that incorporates increasing intervals of time between subsequent review of previously learned material; this exploits the psychological spacing effect. Alternative names include spaced rehearsal, expanding rehearsal, graduated intervals, repetition spacing, repetition scheduling, spaced retrieval and expanded retrieval ”
The key thing is that learning is based on repetition. Many of us might have used flash cards and in some ways this is similar. I am going to try to use Anki to see if SRS is something for me. I am putting all of the questions and answers from the CCIE cert guide into it to practice the questions. Hopefully this will help me keep more things in memory as I do the final studying for the written.
I use Mental Case on OS X and can only recommend this. I try to spend an hour a day and having it on my iPhone and iPad makes that east
Thanks for the input Greg. Will try to use this in some way when studying for the lab also. Did you use SRS when you did your IE?
I would be very interested to hear your feedback on using the certification guide with Anki.
I have been using an identical process (great minds…..), and the one drawback that I have found is it that it can take an incredible amount of time to convert the book into a question/answer format. I would say that it is taking 50 mins to cover 7 pages.
How are you finding the process?
I used the “Do you know this already” questions from all the chapters. I think they together with my notes represent a good summary of the book. When are you planning on doing the written?
That is a really good approach. The only problem is that you only find out if you took the right approach by taking the exam!
My target is Feb 4th, and then I will be studying for the lab.
I wanted to get the art of using Anki and textbooks correctly so that I can efficiently revise theory.
I’ve never used flashcards myself. You find they work?
Didn’t use them for a long time but felt that when studying CCIE I needed some way to schedule repeating of topics since the blueprint is so massive. I don’t know how flashcards work now a days but what is great with Anki is that you grade how difficult the question was and it’s based on an algorithm that schedules when you should do the question again to not forget too much. I’ve seen flashcards that do similar things but I think this takes it one step further. I like the results so far, will have to see how good it works when studying for the lab.
Installed. You got any current flash cards you can share?
Fantastic. I love absorbing but find it sometimes hard to keep it all.
@Anthony Yes, I definately agree. Learning is easy, but keeping things in memory without forgetting other things is the challenge. I definately feel SRS can help with that and in some way will be a part of my studies as I start practicing the labs.
I’m preparing also my CCIE lab and I use also Anki for new topics and somethink than I have hard to retain, It’s a very good tools,
Would you consider sharing Anki with Odom Q’s? Im too on the CCIE written track and using Odom as the main study thread and researching were needed. Thanks