Reflections on OpenStudy

    I discovered OpenStudy.com about a year ago while browsing through Pauls Online Math Notes.  There in the lower left corner was a list of scrolling math questions.  I followed the link, registered, and was soon exploring an interesting new take on social learning.

The link to Open Study featured on Paul's Online Math Notes

    The concept of Open Study is relatively simple -- users ask a question on the left half of the screen and others can join in a discussion about that question on the right.  The list on the left is continually updated with the newest questions on top, while the right view remains fixed until the user navigates to a different question.  Users can be students, teachers, parents, etc. of any level, from anywhere with an internet connection, asking questions about any topic or subject (mathematics is by far the largest group). Users can even create their own study groups, as Paul's Online Math Notes had done and MIT OCW is doing as well.

A typical Open Study screen

    The functionality of Open Study is continually being tweaked and changed, largely for the better, and with a good amount of attention to user feedback! (there are two different ways to submit feedback, and the mods are timely in their replies.)  There is a fairly robust LaTeX interface for entering mathematical expressions, and users have profiles which keep track of their various achievements (answering & asking x number of questions, when someone becomes your "fan", when someone gives your answer a medal, what your total "level" and "experience points" are, etc.) There is also a small chat available in the same window where you can have non-topic-related conversations with users.

My profile page

   So why do I care? My full time job is teaching online AP & College level math courses, why would I want to spend my free time helping students with math problems when that very activity is essentially what I do all day? Several reasons:

1. I'm always looking for new and interesting ways to communicate mathematics with my students.  There are elements of the format and general sense of community of Open Study I would very much like to integrate into my own online classes.
2. Strange as it may sound, it offered a break from my full-time job. I typically helped students with math problems outside of the subjects I teach.  In other words, during my workday I work with AP Calc & College-level math questions, and during my personal time I'd help students with things like algebra and geometry on Open Study.  It provided a nice balance, and helped me realize how to use technology (such as geogebra) to communicate ideas that are often taken for granted in my online classes.
3. It gives me an idea of what kind of topics students in classrooms all around the USA and world are working on.  I notice quite a few "what is the slope of the the line going through these two points..." or "how do I factor/simplify this expression ..." but relatively few problems related to personal finance.  I do notice problems related to percentages and ratio, but they are usually abstract and without context.  I find a prevalence of these kinds of abstract questions combined with a lack more concrete kinds of questions a troubling reflection of math curricula, but that is not in any way the fault of Open Study and the subject of another blog post entirely.
4. It gives me an opportunity to model good (or at least what I've found to be successful) teaching methods to those users who might be very early (or at least earlier than me) in their tutoring/teaching career or are just trying to help others.  Also, I am able to see how other people explained problems in subjects I do not teach (or have not taught in some time).  I tend always to ask the student something like "How far did you get with this problem before you got stuck?" or "Did you try graphing this?"  or even basic search/Google skills "There is a nice 'cheat sheet' available if you type 'Volume and Area Formulas PDF' on Google."

All in all, Open Study is an exciting new take on social learning.  It has elements of games like points and achievements.  It has a social element - the dialog of helping a student through a problem, or idly chatting and learning about people from another country, time zone, or state, and the customize-able user profiles.  And it wraps all of that around the idea of learning.  I give a virtual thumbs up, tip my online hat, and an e-high-five to the movers and shakers behind this ever-changing website and it's wonderful userbase! If you're a teacher or a student of any subject, please sign up and give it a try.

Mathteacher1729 & Owlfred