OpenStudy - The Online Study Group

OpenStudy – The Online Study Group 

Students who are taking distance learning courses or other online college will often find that they are confused, unsure of what to do or have questions that might take a teacher several hours to answer. Online study groups are a way around this predicament because they offer access to students around the world in all time zones and allow anyone to pitch in with an answer to a question or a nudge in the right direction.

What is OpenStudy?

OpenStudy is a comprehensive network of students who are attending either high school or a university or college. Most of these students are college students attending an online school.  OpenStudy was designed so that students could help each other study in a traditional ‘study group’ manner. 

The website is currently officially being used by MIT (Michigan Institute of Technology), NYU, Free Math Help, Math Open Reference and Smart History and is endorsed by FastCompany, Tech Crunch, Fox News, CNN, TNW, Read Write Web and more.

How It Works

OpenStudy uses a network system to help students find answers, learn to solve answers and to give study aid to others having difficulty. The website ranks users according to help given and etc. with medals and ‘level’ status being given for more answers. This helps students to enjoy helping others more as well as to receive their own answers. The site almost completely relies up students helping each other rather than looking for paid teacher instruction.

Features of the website include:

·         Study Groups – Study Groups are specific areas of study where students post questions about that area of study. This helps to narrow search range and helps your questions to be answered more quickly.

·         Blackboard – The blackboard is one of OpenStudys best features because it allows other students to walk you through the process of answering the question yourself. This is helpful for not only finding the answer but for answering similar questions without help and therefore learning.

·         Profile – Your OpenStudy profile is designed to help other students learn about you, to place you automatically into a study group as well as to list your likes/interests and school.  Profiles may be taken from Facebook as the website allows for signup via Facebook.

·         Owl Mail – Owl mail is a new feature at OpenStudy and allows a student to ask a question for a fast reply that is mailed to their inbox. This service uses actual teachers rather than student help.

·         Chat – The chat feature on OpenStudy allows students to talk to each other and answer questions in real time. Chat is limited to one group at a time and any messages will be broadcast to anyone who enters the study group. This is a good way to either converse with other students or to have a question answered more quickly.

Study Groups

OpenStudy is home to over 200 different Study Groups with each group focusing on a different specific area of study. Popular ones include Writing, Mathematics, Physics, Finance, Biology, Computer Science, History, Art History, Chemistry, Engineering, Education, Communication & Media, Health Sciences, Language & Culture and much more.

Each group is specifically tailored towards its own area of study and students should try to only answer questions within their area.

Students may also create a study group either for an education group that has not been listed or so that they may ask questions to a specific group of students such as classmates or students who attend the same school. This can help to set up a more personalized online study group including moving a physical study group from the library or cramped dorm room and onto the internet.

Should You Use OpenStudy

While OpenStudy is a widely approved online study group it should be noted that in some cases students will simply write the answer out which removes the purpose of the lesson for the student asking the question.  Because of this some teachers may frown upon its use. If you aren’t sure, always remember to have a discussion with your teacher/advisor and explain that you would only use the site for help with questions you cannot answer.