Student-built StudyBuddy seeks participants for live beta

StudyBuddy is a social platform where students share experiences and collaborate with each other.

By leveraging an online directory of students, facilitating and maintaining relationships with more people is easy. Personal connections made in school create a fulfilling college experience. We want everyone to be connected without hassle and in real time. Students can view their class rosters, add buddies, and message whomever they’d like, whenever they’d like.

The home screen from the StudyBuddy social platform. (Contributed)

Group studying has shown to be an effective tool because students learn in depth through the power of collaboration. StudyBuddy’s study group creation tool lets students find people in the same classes, with similar study expectations, to study with. When new users signup they enter in their classes, preferred study time and location, which is used to filter groups. If students can’t find a fitting group, they can make their own and invite people. Our solution leverages a flexible platform to create an environment which will allow students to learn better and create new friends simultaneously.

“That pattern of looking down, thinking about what the professor said and then looking up and putting it into their own words, we felt that was a big explanation for why group studying was helping them learn the material at a deeper level.” — R. Keith Sawyer, Ph.D., associate professor of education in Arts & Sciences at Washington University

StudyBuddy is implementing tools to help students, specifically by making lives easier and learning more productive. There are obvious, cumbersome gaps the the education system, which are long due for disruption. We believe the current environment is not adequate regarding the tools that students have to enhance their educational experiences and study skills. With all the information at their fingertips, students suffer from sensory overload. Collaborating together allows students to focus on the information that is relevant to task ahead.

Our next product feature will include an online marketplace where students can sell class materials. When students purchase/sell something, they meet up in person, and exchange. Each student’s identity is connected to their school email, which can be used to minimize scams and known misconceptions in the process.

Starting at UC Santa Cruz

As college students, we know what problems currently exist with education from a student’s perspective. Our ability to market and scale effectively will have a lot to do with what we know about college students and the university. Students from UCSC helped identify the market, so we’re confident that UCSC is a perfect school at which to launch. The creation of StudyBuddy will give UCSC students a leg up. And we look forward to expanding the platform in the future to continue to offer students the ability to achieve more and make new friends in the process.

Public beta