Innovation for College PrepPREETHA RAM, PHD

COFOUNDER, OPENSTUDY,

ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY

Twitter Preetharam@openstudy

Preetha.ram@openstudy.om

A Silent Epidemic

1 million high school students drop out

each year in the US. Gates Silent Epidemic study

Meet Sergio, 9th grader, New York

Faces math challenges

Meets Hero, an OpenStudy user, who helps him regularly.

Sergio’s two latest tests >90.

Once upon a time

Blog.openstudy.com/narratives

Between Failure and Success there is a Human

Success

Failure

The problem of scale

Engage

Support Retain

Social mediaGame Mechanics

Community of Practice

Certificates

>1 million high school dropouts a year

>12 million community college Students, only

2 year graduation rates in community colleges around 20%

Learning Theories

OpenStudy

Blended Learning

Peer-to-Peer learning,

Communities of Practice

Social Constructivi

sm

Dziuban et al, 2004; Means et al, 2010, Twigg (2003

Fuchs, 1997 Lave & Wenger, 1991

Bandura, Vygotsky, 1978

The OpenStudy Community

Unowen: I always come here to ask and end up helping – lol who says math wasn’t addictive?

ADDICTIVE: with Game Mechanics

An Engaging Student Experience

karatechopper: We r F- am- i- ly!

An online community could never evolve into becoming a family, @openstudy has proved its possibility. Join the family bit.ly/8slymk

Mathhasproblems: Aww, I love you guys You really care about

me <3

Getting Help

Virality for the Global GoodTake 10 Teach 10

Assessment of deeper learning through behavior analytics

1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 510

20

40

60

80

100

120

Progression through Questions and Answers

AravindG questionsAravindG answers

Questions or Answers

<---Asking

Helper-->

<--Answering

1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 510

20406080

100120140160180200

Medals and Answers Progression

AravindG answersAravindG medals received

Weeks

Medals

or

Answ

ers

Study funded by NextGen Learning Challenge, performed in collaboration with Dr. Gloria Miller, SRI

Learning OutcomesMotivation

I am more motivated to study since I started using OpenStudy. 79%

Learning Outcomes

I have seen improvements in my grades since I started using OpenStudy. 70%

Study Habits

My study habits have improved since I started using OpenStudy. 69%

Deeper Learning

>30% demonstrated deeper learning

N=519

SmartScore Progression

What should be assessed?

75% of long-term career success depends on soft skills, while only 25% percent depends on technical knowledge

2005 Stanford Research Institute & Carnegie Melon Foundation. Survey of 500 CEOs

SmartScore Validation“The SmartScore is truly a NextGen Assessment, an innovative and multidimensional

analysis based on an understanding of human behavior”. Rahim Rajan, Program Officer, Gates Foundation:

“MIT OpenCourseWare's goal is increase the impact of our resources tenfold in our next decade, and building community around our content is a key component of that effort. OpenStudy is a great example of how such communities can be built.  OpenStudy's SmartScore encourages the teamwork and collaborative problem solving skills that will allow millions of independent learners to teach each other.” - Cecilia d’Oliveria, Executive Director, MIT OCW.

“The SmartScore provides a unique solution to credentialing soft skills that are not well captured in traditional grades. Their approach combines open social learning and peer learning to empower students from all walks of life to learn and demonstrate important skills that employers greatly value.” - Paul LeBlanc, President of Southern New Hampshire University

“OpenStudy’s SmartScore allows job-seekers, mostly community college students, to demonstrate work force skills in lieu of, or as an adjunct to, a certificate or diploma.” -

Dean Florez, Fmr. Majority Leader California State Senate

Nick DeSantis, Chronicle of Higher Education,http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/3-start-up-announcements-from-the-education-innovation-summit/36086

Evidence of Impact

80% report better understanding.

200,000 users

170 countries

>2000 Q/day

Answer in <5 min

>40 Institutions

Next Steps“CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND ADULT STUDENTS TO EARN COLLEGE CREDIT. … EMERGING EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT SOME FORM OF COLLEGE EXPERIENCE IN HIGH SCHOOL INCREASES COLLEGE GOING, COLLEGE READINESS, AND COLLEGE SUCCESS AMONG LOWER-ACHIEVING POPULATIONS AS WELL.”

-WHITE HOUSE TOOLKIT

New Academic Experiences A Discovery Portal for

Open Learning

A Learning Help Community for Open

Learners

Certification for Open Learning

New Academic Experiences for high school, college and adult

learners

1 Discover 2 Learn

95

3 Certify

Learn with others on OpenStudy.Get support, engage with the community, help others and stay motivated to complete.Learning, engagement and participation is tracked with the SmartScore

Earn a Certificate ofParticipation.Or take an exam for College Credit

Find free college courses on our portal.OpenCourseWare courses from U Notre Dame, UC Irvine etc.

How it Works: Learner

OpenStudy is…

“a social platform for learners who want to help each other study”

“you’re no longer alone—you have the world’s biggest classroom to turn to, any time, anywhere”

“global element is important…users will almost always find someone online in the study groups”

“one of ten most innovative companies in education”

“Mechanical MOOC to rely on free learning sites”

Time to evolve

Email: preetha.ram @ openstudy.com

Twitter: @preetharam

Our PartnersOCW/COLLEGES/UNIVSMIT OCWOpen Yale CoursesKorea UniversityOpenMichiganUC IrvineNotre DameNYUEmoryGeorgia State UGeorgia TechAfrican Health OERArizona State OnlineSouthern New Hampshire UniversityCollege of the RedwoodsTriC Ommunity CollegeFootHills CollegeTU DelftDistance Education Univ. Costa RicaMonterey Inst. TechnologyPurdue Online Writing CenterProcess.Arts

OER

CDC (TRAIN)SmartHistory (MOMA)Purple MathTutorial.Math.Lamar.eduFreeMathHelpHelpWithFractionsBiologyCornerCellsAlivePhysics 1728.comHyperPhysicsCalculatorsoupHippocampus

Certificate of Participation

Supporting Great Open Content