> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.chimeedu.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to Use ChimeEdu Timelines and Flash Card Decks

> Explore ChimeEdu timeline activities and study with spaced-repetition flash card decks in three study modes, with automatic progress saving.

Timelines and Flash Cards are two of ChimeEdu's self-paced study tools. Timelines help you understand the sequence of events — not just the events themselves, but *why order matters*. Flash Cards build vocabulary and recall through science-backed spaced repetition, so the things you study actually stick.

***

## Timelines

### What is a timeline activity?

A timeline activity presents a chronological sequence of events put together by your teacher. Each event has a title, a date, and usually a description and images too. You can explore the events at your own pace — scrolling forward and back through time, zooming in on a particular period, and tapping any event for the full details.

Timelines are used across many subjects: history, literature, science, biography — anywhere that sequence and causation matter.

### Using a timeline

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Timeline activity from your classroom">
    Find the Timeline activity in your classroom feed and click or tap to open it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Scroll or scrub through events">
    Use your scroll wheel, swipe gesture, or the scrubber bar to move forward and backward through time. Events are displayed in chronological order automatically.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Tap any event card for full details">
    Click or tap on an event to expand its full card — you'll see the title, date, description, and any images your teacher has added.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Zoom into a time period">
    Use the zoom controls to focus on a specific stretch of time — useful when events are clustered close together and you want to see them more clearly.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  If your teacher is presenting the timeline to the whole class, it may be in **play mode** — events will advance automatically in sequence. This is great for following along during a lesson.
</Note>

***

## Flash Cards

### What are flash cards?

Flash Cards are revision decks your teacher builds for your class. Each card has a term or question on the front and an answer on the back. What makes ChimeEdu Flash Cards special is **spaced repetition** — the deck tracks which cards you find difficult and shows those ones more often, while cards you know well appear less frequently. This means every study session is personalised to what *you* actually need to practice.

There are three study modes to choose from:

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Flip" icon="rotate">
    Read the term, recall your answer mentally, then flip the card to check. Rate how well you knew it to help the deck schedule your next review.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Type the Answer" icon="keyboard">
    Type your answer before flipping the card. Great for practising exact spelling or definitions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Multiple Choice" icon="list-check">
    Choose the correct answer from four options. A helpful guided mode for when you're getting started with a new topic.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

### Studying with flash cards

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Flash Cards activity from your classroom">
    Find the Flash Cards activity in your classroom feed and click or tap to open it.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose a study mode">
    Select **Flip**, **Type the Answer**, or **Multiple Choice** depending on how you want to study. You can switch modes between sessions.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Work through the deck (Flip mode)">
    Read the term on the front of the card. Think of your answer before flipping — trying to recall it yourself is what makes it stick. Then flip the card to see the answer.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Rate how well you knew it">
    After flipping, rate your confidence. This tells the deck whether to show you the card again soon or schedule it for later.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Keep going — the deck adapts to you">
    Cards you find difficult will come back sooner. Cards you've mastered will appear less often. The more you study, the more personalised your sessions become.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Progress tracking

You don't have to guess how your revision is going — ChimeEdu tracks your progress for you. On the deck overview screen you can see:

* **Mastered** — cards you know confidently and are scheduled for infrequent review
* **Learning** — cards you're making progress on but still reviewing regularly
* **New** — cards you haven't studied yet

<Note>
  Your progress is saved automatically across all your devices. Start studying on your phone, continue on your laptop — everything syncs without any extra steps.
</Note>

<Tip>
  Study a little each day rather than all at once. Spaced repetition works *best* with regular short sessions — even ten minutes a day is more effective than one long cram the night before a test.
</Tip>


## Related topics

- [Create Flash Card Decks Using SM-2 Spaced Repetition](/teachers/activities/flash-cards.md)
- [ChimeEdu Student FAQs — Quizzes, Accounts & Progress](/help/faq-students.md)
- [Link Google Drive Files to Your ChimeEdu Classroom](/teachers/classrooms/google-drive.md)
- [Getting Started on ChimeEdu: Complete Student Guide](/students/introduction.md)
- [Joining Your Teacher's ChimeEdu Classroom: A Guide](/students/join-classroom.md)