By Kim Nguyen
Communications Intern, College of IST
When it comes to the traditional chant “We Are,” people usually respond with a loud, enthusiastic and energetic “Penn State!”
But for these three students, their response to the “We Are” is … "studying!"
Joshua Endter (sophomore, IST and SRA major), Gretchen Braun (sophomore, IST major with minors in SRA and Spanish) and Gregory Ruggiero (junior, SRA major with an option in Cyber Security) turned their group project for their IST 210 class into a Web application: PsuStudy: College cramming made easy.
“[PsuStudy] allows students from every college in Penn State to set up a study group for a particular class and meet up with friends or complete strangers,” said Braun.
Ruggiero said PsuStudy is designed to help students easily find or create study groups on campus.
“The site simplifies the process of forming study groups,” he said. “Since we tend to only study with the people we meet in class, why not spread the idea of studying to the entire class, based on a place and time rather than who you know?”
Students can register on PsuStudy using their Penn State ID. They can also add classes they are taking each semester to be notified about the study groups for their classes.
Once registered, students can log in to see are the list of study groups that are available at the time. There are also maps of the locations of the study groups, powered by Google Maps.
Users can add themselves to study groups to inform others that they will be attending. They can also publicize their attendance via Facebook by clicking on the “Share on Facebook” button.
Endter, Braun and Ruggiero all said time constraints were their biggest challenge, but all three were willing to work on the site outside of class to get the project up and running. Though the site is nearly complete, they said there are still challenges ahead.
“The challenge now is to make sure [PsuStudy] stays fast and simple to use as it gains users,” said Endter.
Other challenges include gaining a strong user base and making students aware of the service. The group plans on publicizing the site via on-campus bulletin boards, word of mouth and social networking sites such as Facebook.
The site is running and will be completed with additional features by the end of the summer. It will be available as a resource for students returning to Penn State starting in the fall at www.psustudy.com.