(From left) Solomon Yan, Ding Lam, Ron Tam and Alfred Lai have analysed data to make studying for the DSE easier. Photo: Thomas Yau/SCMP Studying large amounts of data can help with everything from revision to job searchesBy Wong Yat-hei

One of the biggest challenges when learning a second language is picking up enough vocabulary.

To help those taking the DSE feel more confident about the English exam, computer students from the Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) have developed an award-winning app which helps students identify which words are most likely to appear on the paper.

But what makes the app so groundbreaking is that the creators have tapped into the "cloud". That's where information can be stored and then accessed from anywhere in the world.

The cloud is a way of storing huge amounts of data, far more than you could fit on one computer. Analysing "big data" can teach us things we never knew before.

The DSE English Learning App is the work of four final year computer systems administration students from the Department of Multimedia and Internet Technology at IVE.

Solomon Yan Chun-shan, Alfred Lai Chun-yin, Ding Lam Chun-wai and Ron Tam Hoi-kit wanted to create an app which would make studying for the DSE easier.

The students studied 22 years of HKCEE and HKALE English exam papers to develop the app. To analyse such a large amount of data would normally require a super-computer which would be too expensive for them.

But by using cloud computing, the students could carry out complex analysis of large amounts of data.

"It was the dream of many IT students to have their own super-computer," says Lai. "Now this dream has come true with the use of cloud technology.

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Learning on a cloud