In conjunction with EDUCAUSE 2011, OpenStudy announces this week’s launch of an important new feature to expand participation in what is already the world’s largest online study group: Any student or teacher can now create his or her own study group on the Openstudy platform. The new easy-to-use feature makes us “more open than ever.” Like all OpenStudy services, it’s free!
Beginning at 4:00 PM today, stop by the OpenStudy booth in “Startup Alley” at EDUCAUSE 2011 and chat with Chris or Preetha about our new feature, our 30 edtech partners, or the Round Table issues (see Thursday’s schedule below). If you can’t make it by the booth, check our blog @ OpenStudy.com and we’ll keep you up to date with the day-to-day activities.
On Wednesday, get ready for a big announcement of an exciting new partnership. A little hint: Pearson’s OpenClass.
On Thursday, Chris Sprague, Openstudy CEO, will participate in a small group Roundtable Discussion led by U.S. CTO Aneesh Chopra, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement . The discussion will focus on the educational technologies market as part of the Obama Administration’s “DC2VC” program within the startup America Initiative. Over the past several weeks, starting with the President’s Jobs Act, the administration has taken steps to achieve a “quantum leap” in educational technologies.
Stay tuned; we’ll keep the information flowing from EDUCAUSE 2011.
OpenStudy At a Glance:
OpenStudy is an educational startup making the world one big study group. Most recently funded by The Gates Foundation through their Next Generation Learning Challenges initiative, the National Science Foundation, and by the National Institute of Health, we are scaling equitable education to all corners of the world.
- Learners come together at the same table to learn. OpenStudy represents a global set of peers joined through a vast network of partnerships with academic institutions and Online Educational Resources (OER’s), students from 175 different countries and 1500 universities get and give help with individuals daily — regardless of socio-economic status, geographic location, or academic affiliation.
- Immediate learning support: 100-200 learners are online 24/7 at OpenStudy providing an academic life line for each student stuck on a problem at his or her individualized instructional level. Over 80% of questions are answered in less than 5 minutes.
- Gamifying education: OpenStudy users now build individual academic profiles through helping others. On-site rewards earned through peer recognition—a “medal” here, a “badge” there— move the helpful contributor of frequent and quality answers to ever higher levels of heroism. Learners are motivated to ‘level-up’ on OpenStudy and prove they are a valuable asset to the community.
Entries