Innovation for College Prep
PREETHA RAM, PHD
COFOUNDER, OPENSTUDY,
Twitter Preetharam
@openstudy
ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY
Preetha.ram@openstudy.om
A Silent Epidemic
1 million high school
students drop out each
year in the US.
Gates Silent Epidemic study
Once upon a time
Meet Sergio, 9th grader, New
York
Faces math challenges
Meets Hero, an OpenStudy user,
who helps him regularly.
Sergio’s two latest tests >90.
Blog.openstudy.com/narratives
Between Failure and Success
there is a Human
Success
Failure
The problem of scale
>1 million high school dropouts a year
>12 million community college
Students, only
2 year graduation rates in community
colleges around 20%
Engage
Social media
Game
Mechanics
Support
Community of
Practice
Retain
Certificates
Learning Theories
Lave & Wenger, 1991
Fuchs, 1997
Peer-to-Peer
learning,
Communities
of Practice
Blended
Learning
Social
Constructivism
OpenStudy
Dziuban et al, 2004; Means et al, 2010,
Twigg (2003
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 Good
Take 10 Teach 10
Assessment of deeper learning
through behavior analytics
Progression through Questions and
Answers
Medals and Answers Progression
120
160
80
<---Asking
60
<--Answering
40
AravindG questions
AravindG answers
140
120
AravindG answers
100
80
AravindG medals
received
60
40
20
20
0
1
4
7
10
13
16
19
22
25
28
31
34
37
40
43
46
49
o
r
A
n
s
w
e
r
s
180
Helper-->
100
Medals or Answers
Q
u
e
s
t
i
o
n
s
200
0
1 5 9 13172125293337414549
Weeks
Study funded by NextGen Learning Challenge, performed in
collaboration with Dr. Gloria Miller, SRI
Learning Outcomes
Motivation
I am more motivated to study since I
started using OpenStudy. 79%
N=519
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
SmartScore Progression
What should be assessed?
2005 Stanford Research Institute & Carnegie
Melon Foundation. Survey of 500 CEOs
75% of long-term career success depends on soft
skills, while only 25% percent depends on
technical knowledge
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-announcementsfrom-the-education-innovation-summit/36086
Evidence of Impact
200,000 users
>40 Institutions
170 countries
>2000 Q/day
Answer in <5 min
80% report better understanding.
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
How it Works: Learner
1
Discover
2
Learn
3
Certify
9
5
Find free college courses
on our portal.
OpenCourseWare
courses from U Notre
Dame, UC Irvine etc.
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 of
Participation.
Or take an exam for
College Credit
OpenStudy is…
“one of ten most innovative
companies in education”
“Mechanical MOOC to rely on free learning
sites”
“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”
“a social platform for learners
who want to help each other study”
Time to evolve
Email: preetha.ram @ openstudy.com
Twitter: @preetharam
Our Partners
OCW/COLLEGES/UNIVS
OER
MIT OCW
CDC (TRAIN)
SmartHistory (MOMA)
Purple Math
Tutorial.Math.Lamar.edu
FreeMathHelp
HelpWithFractions
BiologyCorner
CellsAlive
Physics 1728.com
HyperPhysics
Calculatorsoup
Hippocampus
Open Yale Courses
Korea University
OpenMichigan
UC Irvine
Notre Dame
NYU
Emory
Georgia State U
Georgia Tech
African Health OER
Arizona State Online
Southern New Hampshire University
College of the Redwoods
TriC Ommunity College
FootHills College
TU Delft
Distance Education Univ. Costa Rica
Monterey Inst. Technology
Purdue Online Writing Center
Process.Arts
Certificate of Participation
Cer ficate of Par cipa on
Problem
Solving 45
Teamwork
39
Engagement
59
Smart Score of 52
Ac ve Time OpenStudy: 45.7 hours
Supporting Great Open Content