Some college students studying chemistry recently gathered to share notes, swap strategies and provide moral support.
This scene is played out at college campuses across the country but this one is different. It's not happening in a library or coffee house. It's happening online through a site called OpenStudy.
It's a world-wide network of more than 350 study groups that students can join regardless of where they live or go to school. One particular group was designed for students studying chemistry at Georgia Perimeter College. Users received help from classmates at the college's different campuses and from students as far away as Istanbul.
"We connect students online because that is how they spend their lives," said Preetha Ram, an associate dean at Emory University and one of the site's creators. "This is what the Millennials want."
The free site went live a couple of months ago but was founded in 2007 by a team led by Ram, her husband, Georgia Tech professor Ashwin Ram, and one of their former students. The company is based out of the Advanced Technology Development Center on Tech Square in midtown Atlanta. Most of the employees and student interns have ties to Georgia Tech.
Creators described the site as Match.com for studying, where students search for people based on expertise or subject. They can join or form groups to ask questions, get help or just collaborate on assignments. About 90 percent of the questions posted on the site are answered and each question receives responses from an average of five students.
"We are empowering the student community to take care of itself," said Ashwin Ram, a professor in Georgia Tech's College of Computing. "We believe that students can teach one another. Our site shows the power of peer-to-peer learning."
Users work collaboratively in real time to answer each other's questions, the Rams said. Responses are almost instantaneous. About 90 percent of the questions posted are answered within one minute, the company's programmers said.
About 12,000 people from 150 countries and territories use the site. The average student is in his or her mid-20s, but participants range from middle school students to senior citizens, organizers said.
Can Karadayi, a chemistry student at Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul, spends about 45 minutes a day on the site answering questions and posting his own. He's known as "Platemaster" and joined several study groups, including French and organic chemistry.
"I can get help and give help and not just from the people near you," Karadayi said. "You want to be able to learn from the people who know the material best, regardless of where they may be. It’s like the whole world is your study group."
The company is still building out the site. It receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Georgia Research Alliance. It is also raising money privately and plans to add value-added services to drive revenue, although the basic access to study groups will remain free, CEO Phil Hill said.
One premium service could provide a teaching assistant to users, he said. This could be attractive to students taking online courses or using the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's OpenCourseWare, the world's largest provider of free educational classes. OpenStudy has teamed up with MIT to offer study groups.
"There are a lot of possibilities out there because people get significant gratification by helping each other," Hill said. "Helping someone learn the material gives the other person a better understanding of the material as well."
Online Study Group
OpenStudy is a free online social learning network made up of more than 350 study groups that attract more than 12,000 people around the world. To learn more go to: openstudy.com.
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
