Title of Seminar: Leveraging Social Gaming and Peer Validation to Motivate Learners on OpenStudy
This talk gives an overview of the evolution of OpenStudy, from a research project at Georgia Tech, into an SBIR seeded Venture Lab company supported by the NSF, NIH and GRA, and finally to a current Gates Foundation grantee and ATDC company that will soon be going for private funding.
The talk will discuss previous challenges of getting and reacting to user feedback through various channels - surveys, polls, focus groups, usability tests, strangers, and application metrics. It will also solicit feedback on ongoing challenges - online community management for a young demographic, balancing game-mechanics, and evolving a meaningful but fun academic profile on OpenStudy.
Chris graduated from Stanford University in 2002 with a degree in Symbolic Systems with a focus on HCI. He graduated from Georgia Tech with a Masters of Computer Science in 2004.
It was during those studies that he began researching online education with his now co-founders Dr. Ashwin Ram [Professor Georgia Tech] and Dr. Preetha Ram [Dean of Science Emory University]. Chris comes from a family of teachers, and is passionate about using technology as a means to equal access education.
He previously worked at Oracle and startups in Silicon Valley in roles focusing on emerging technologies.
A recording of the Brown Bag will be available here
