HigherEd 2.0

A student in class suggested we could use the blog as a way to spontanteously self-assemble study groups for working on homework or preparing for an exam. I told him I would put something up on the blog, so here it is…the Instant Study Group category.

The idea is simple. Regardless of the time of the semester, whenever you are seeking partners with whom to study, just put a comment into the thread of this post. Tell people in class where you will be, and when (”A group of us are in the stacks and will be here until probably about 10 pm.”). Then, whenever you log onto the blog, just look at the “Recent Comments” panel on the left hand side and see what is happening, and who you might be able to meet and work with.

I can only think of a few caveats, and they all revolve around student privacy and personal safety. We definitely don’t want any adverse consequences here, so let’s set a few ground rules on how to use this idea.

• Let’s only use this idea to arrange study groups on Grounds, during reasonable business hours (”a bunch of us are in the stacks right now (7 pm) working on HW, feel free to drop by”). Please don’t post about study groups to meeting at midnight, or at off Grounds locations.
• Let’s use this only for study groups which are already assembled, and which are open to having other students join. Let’s NOT use this to schedule study groups in the future (”can you meet me tomorrow night at 7?”). Please do that sort of scheduling offline.
• For privacy reasons, please don’t write a list of who is currently in the study group. And you can change your screen name using the admin functions of the blog to protect your anonymity if you like.
• Use common sense and caution. Don’t feel compelled to go meet study groups, wherever they are, and please heed the usual cautions of walking around campus at night, using well lighted pathways, and these other tips from the UVa Police.

Finally, let’s just keep an eye on how this works, and if it seems useful we can keep it. If the logistics of this study group self-assembly just don’t work, then we’ll scrap it. Give it a try and we’ll re-evaluate as we go along.