Courtesy of Ryan HwangA group of Washington University students are revolutionizing education with the recent launch of their new Web site, Schoology.
Schoology provides an online venue where students can share class notes, help each other with classes through online tutoring and make money at the same time.
When students join Schoology’s system of virtual education, they have the ability to download the class notes that others have posted on the Web site for free. To provide incentive for students to upload their notes, 90 percent of the Schoology advertising revenue will be distributed to the contributors.
“No one is going to post their notes if they are not getting compensated,” said Jeremy Friedman, one of the four juniors who founded the Web site.
Schoology uses an algorithm that takes a number of different factors into consideration, including the number of times that a posting of notes is viewed, to determine the distribution of compensation.
The notes are rated by readers on a five-star scale, which, according to Friedman, “forces people to upload legitimate, quality notes.”
Friedman conceived Schoology’s concept in March 2007, and up to its official launch this past Tuesday, the site has been constantly revised and improved with the help of co-founders Greg Mervine, Ryan Hwang and Tim Trinidad.
“We’ve remade the site so many times, each time weeding out components to make it simpler to use,” said Trinidad.
Schoology also offers an innovative system of online tutoring, whereby students can sign up to tutor others in various subjects for a self-selected rate that is paid by the minute. Students can contact the tutors through the Web site’s chat system. Past customers rate tutors and customers then decide whether the tutor will provide a worthwhile service.
“Students can get a feel for what the tutor knows,” said Hwang. “They can ask basic questions to see if the tutor is really an expert in what they say.”
Users of Schoology can add money to a prepaid account, which can be used to pay for tutoring services.
The account balance is automatically transferred by the minute to the tutor’s account at the rate that the customer agrees to pay. The customer can end the tutoring session at any time after the first minute so that no additional funds are transferred.
Individual tutoring sessions can also be merged together into large group sessions. There are already more than 100 registered tutors available on the Web site, and the founders are pursuing the services of professional tutors as well.
The educational service capabilities of Schoology are not limited to tutoring. Students can use the “job request” feature that allows them to request help for a specific task including math problems and proofreading papers.
Another user can provide the job request for a set price, whereupon the customer has the ability to ask for clarifications before either accepting or declining the help.
Schoology’s founders credit Burchan Bayazit, professor of computer science and engineering, for helping them develop a search system that can scan the context of the posted articles for an accurate match, similar to a search that is conducted on Google.
Bayazit also helped the students develop a feature on the site called “Whiteboarding.” Described by founders as a “virtual blackboard,” Whiteboarding allows a tutor to draw visual diagrams on the Web site that are instantly viewed by the customer.
“Schoology aims to create a collaborative environment, where people can come together to help each other learn,” said Friedman. “We are excited to enter the world of digital education, and are encouraged by the possibilities.”