Technology emerges as tool for studying

While most people use Facebook to see what their friends have been up to or relay news in their own lives to others, some turn to the social networking site with the purpose of studying in mind. The creation of Facebook groups intended to allow students to communicate with others about their classes has become a commonplace practice.

This custom is just one facet, however, of the overall shift toward technology as a method of studying. In a world where people are never far from a phone or computer, it is no wonder that now even schoolwork has been affected by recent technological advances.

Sophomore Shreya Kanchan first stumbled upon this aspect of Facebook when she was added to a group made for the trumpet section of the marching band. Nowadays, she also is part of a group for her English 10 class, along with 60 other members.

“The group is helpful because [the students in it] show us different things to study from, like certain packets that the teacher handed out,” Kanchan said. “It saves me time because they make Quizlets for me.”

According to Kanchan, although the creation of these study groups is usually arbitrary, the content students post on them is often valuable.

  “People just start [the groups] kind of randomly,” Kanchan said. “Most of the time, people are pretty helpful. If you have a question, just ask them, and usually a lot of people know the answer.”

Sometimes, however, the group’s wall can become cluttered with unnecessary questions that detract from its overall effectiveness.

“[I get] too many notifications, and people ask irrelevant questions,” Kanchan said. “For instance, they ask what the homework is when you can actually look on the website and it’s usually there.”

Other students employ technology as a method of studying by using websites intended for this purpose, such as Edmodo, a site similar to Facebook, only with the sole purpose of bringing education to places besides a classroom. Sophomore Carolyn Qi began using Quizlet, a site which focuses on learning games, when a friend recommended it this year. 

“[Quizlet is] really amazing, and it’s something that’s everlasting,” Qi said. “In 10 years, if I wanted to come back and look at the stuff I wrote yesterday, I would be able to. If I wrote [the material] on actual notecards, I could lose them, so it was a very practical idea for me.”
These games include flashcards, time tests and matching. Qi believes them to be effective when studying any topic in school, which is one of the things that makes the site so appealing.

“I use it for all subjects,” Qi said. “I even use it for math; when you have an equation, I write that down. I use it for science for polyatomic atoms, for English and French for vocabulary terms, for history for people’s names and what they did.”

Qi said what she finds most convenient about Quizlet is its popularity, since it has features that allow her to alert others who use it about pertinent games she has found.

“Quizlet is really widely used, so if I were to share one of [the games] with friends, they can use it too and it’s really simple for me,” Qi said. “Since so many people use it, it’s easy for me to get things from other people and for me to share with others.”

Users of Facebook study groups often post games they found on Quizlet to help other students remember important material. The most beneficial aspect of the groups, however, is their use as mediums for resolving issues that students are perplexed about.

“If you have a question, it can be answered really easily because there are so many people in the groups,” Kanchan said. “Even if you didn’t ask the question yourself, it helps you because you’re getting information that is helpful, even if you didn’t think that you needed it.”