Open Study's Having a Party!

Hi OpenStudiers! Ready for the party to kick off another great semester? You are invited to the OpenStudy Back to School Party on Jan 15, 19.00 GMT (11:00 am Pacific Time).  Its online – of course.

How to get ready for the party.

1. RSVP:  Official Party Room and RSVP and register in the link there to get the swag.

2. Who’s coming? Go to OpenStudy Facebook page to catch the action.  Be sure to Like us when you are there.

3. Check the Music system:  The party is going to take place at Jamcloud - a site where we can all join together and share music, videos, you name it, together! We’re also planning on giving away prizes, having some fun polls, and generally just having a good time!

4. Put on your party clothes and join us with nicely polished brains!

So here’s the plan: at 11AM PST on January 15th, the whole OpenStudy team is going to be at the OpenStudy Party (on OpenStudy, direct link above) and JamCloud.  We will be sharing music and videos, and doing what we like to do best, getting to know you.  As part of the festivities, we’ll run some contests, we’ll challenge you with some brainteasers, share in a few laughs, and, the best part, we’ll be giving out some OpenStudy T-shirts as well as some Amazon gift cards!

We have had a blast of a year, grown from 15,000 to 80,000 and who else to thank but you, the OpenStudier?

Here are some of the contests we’ll be running:

Top  Helper - Who is the #1  Helper on OpenStudy? Medals shmedals, Who do you think has helped the most on OpenStudy? Let us know! The winner gets a $25 Amazon gift card.

Top Referrer – The one who invites the most of their friend’s to the party gets a $25 Amazon Gift Card. Get inviting! To win, share using the Facebook or Twitter buttons from OpenStudy.com, then when that person registers, we’ll record it and reward the Top Referrer.

Best Use of the Equation Editor – Who has made the best, most complex, most elegant equations on OpenStudy? Winner gets $10 in Amazon cash!

Most Time Spent on Problems – Who’s that OpenStudier that spent so much time on a problem, to switch on the lightbulb, that you have to recognize them?  Reward them by voting to give them a $10 Amazon gift card!

Best Question Asker – Help us reward the OpenStudier who regularly asks the best questions, and sticks around to figure out HOW to do something, not just an answer. They deserve $10 for that (at least)!

We’ll also be giving out a couple of $5 gift cards during the party, as well as OpenStudy T-shirts (more on how to win coming soon).

Can’t install Jamcloud?  Don’t worry.  There will be plenty of action in the Party Room – you won’t miss it.  Crank up your speakers!

Can’t join us? Awww! We’ll miss you for sure.  And just to prove that we will, if you register and we’ll keep you in the drawing. (Scroll back up – and register)

See you all there.

TranceNova comes to us from Australia and speaks some Swahili, and when she is not doing that, she is rocking MIT OCW Biology! We are really impressed that she was interviewed by the Chronicle of Higher Education.  Read it here.

Like many other people I stumbled upon the OpenStudy website. I remember being so curious about the questions and their answers. I spent a while roaming the numerous sections seeing what people were doing. Then I came across a question and I knew the answer! It was an interesting question and I just had to put an answer down, enlighten someone perhaps thousands of kilometers away from me. So I timidly answered the question, all the while worrying if my answer was wrong, too short, or any number of other things. So there my shiny answer sat and POP! –  a message came up, someone had given me a medal! I couldn’t believe it! Someone actually liked my answer?

It was from that moment I was utterly hooked, driven by the urge to help others (make them happy perhaps?), get achievements, and feel a little smart myself. In return I found new friends and a supportive community. I don’t think there is another way someone from Australia could meet someone from Tanzania and swap Swahili lessons, chat with a medical school student from Mexico, while at the same time helping a 12th grader agonizing over AP Biology.  I feel like my knowledge is useful to someone, and I have gained another friend in a foreign land.

I am now a postgraduate student in Ecology, Entomology and Soil Science. Through OpenStudy I am able to spread my knowledge of science and help others learn. OpenStudy has helped refresh things in my memory that I had learned long ago (and since completely forgotten!), which are coming in helpful, sometimes in unexpected places. I learn new things and old things and even found myself linking unrelated study areas to understand the same concepts, collaboration at its best!

How is your Swahili?  Join us today on OpenStudy and make a new friend in a foreign land!