The idea for Learnclick started as a tool for learning languages rather than teaching them. The objective was to build a tool that would help people learn things in context. The tool which I called “cloze test flashcards” didn’t turn out to interest many students at the time, but some teachers discovered it and they liked how easy it was for creating clozes.

One teacher wrote:
“In terms of potential additional features to the site, I’d love to be able to create clozes that are longer than flashcards.  The way I use clozes, and the way many other teachers use them, is as a vehicle to teach students that clues to what words belong in the blank can be anywhere in the reading passage — several sentences in front and several later.  Only being able to create a cloze as a flashcard severely limits their usefulness.”

That is when I realized that there was a potential market and that I should gear the website towards teachers instead of students. I added other quiz types like drag&drop, matching and multiple choice quizzes. I added the ability to have the quizzes automatically assessed and for those grades to be saved. I asked teachers what features they miss and added them over time.