Study Groups On-line for AP Exams

Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 18:20:52 -0800
From: Ron Urwongse <ron@vangogh.cy-fair.isd.tenet.edu>
Subject: Study Groups On-line for AP Exmas

I am one of two high school students who has invested several hundreds of hours towards the implementation of online study groups as an instructional tool in classrooms across the nation. Online study groups are imply interactive web sites on the Internet created for the sole purpose of allowing students and teachers an online environment in which to study. Study groups are comprised of interactive outlines, message boards, real-time chat rooms, RealAudio lectures, collaborative papers, online exams, and other interactive learning tools.

We first developed the online study group concept during the 1996-97 school year. Since then, a US History study group has been successfully implemented, and entire classrooms in Anchorage, Dallas, Sacramento, and Seattle have utilized the online study group on a weekly basis. The Cypress-Fairbanks Internet Development Team has presented the online study group concept at TCEA _97 and Tel-Ed _98, and several nationally distributed journals have published the paper _Online Study Groups: An Interactive Learning Paradigm._ Considering the success of the US History study group and overwhelming praise of the concept, we have decided to expand the study group program to all of the most popular AP and honors courses.

Expansion will culminate into a national "Great American Cram" towards the latter half of April, a time when students across the nation will be preparing for AP and final exams. During this time, professors will be invited to speak on relevant topics, interactive educational activities will be held, and classrooms across the nation will be expected to attend and participate in these activities. Nearly all the components necessary to launch the "Great American Cram" have been developed, and content is currently being gathered to flesh out the site. However, the majority of students and teachers in the nation remain relatively unaware of the study group program despite efforts to promote the site in mailing lists and through modest information mail-outs. Exposure is desparately needed in order for the "Great American Cram" to become successful. Please reply with any suggestions to alleviate this problem. Thank you.

Great American Cram Web Site http://vangogh.cy-fair.isd.tenet.edu/great

*- ron@vangogh.cy-fair.isd.tenet.edu - Ron Urwongse -*