Study Groups are proven to improve grades, however as with most group work, study groups can be challenging. Distractions can arise at meetings, schedule conflicts can occur between members and more. The semester is almost over for most students across the country and GroupTable.com a software for group projects and study groups has some tips that can help you get the most out of your study groups.
Instead of waiting to cram before a test, form your group early
Choose between four and six classmates for your study group
Share notes to see other perspectives
Minimize distractions
State objectives or goals
Be prepared-do your required reading
Take turns teaching one another
Stay on topic
Plan a weekly meeting
Manage your study group online
We hope these tips help. By managing your study group online you have the ability get all the benefits of a study group, but on your own time. Your group is no longer restricted to a specific time or place. By using the tips above along with GroupTable you’ll do great on those upcoming final exams.
A few days ago Mashable, one of the top technology blogs on the internet did a review on GroupTable. According to Mashable….
“The entire makeup of the service is quite impressive”
- Paul Glazowski
To check out the article yourself visit GroupTable on Mashable. We’ll keep everyone updated…There are a lot of really cool things on the horizon for GroupTable that will come to light soon. We look forward to sharing them with you.
Recently our development staff added some new enhancements to GroupTable. We always like to keep all of you in the loop so below you can see what we have added:
The ability to see group member’s phone numbers: We have heard feedback that it would be helpful to have all of group member’s phone numbers available in one spot. You can make your phone number visible to your group members by adding your phone number on your edit profile page. Once your phone number has been added your group members will be able to see it either on your group member’s tab, or on the specific group member’s profile page.
The ability to view documents in GroupTable’s frame: This is a very cool functionality. You can now open and view a document, power pt or other file directly in GroupTable’s frame. To do this visit your group’s binder and click the magnifying glass.
The ability to delete your discussion replies: We heard feedback from some of you mentioning that when you reply to an existing discussion post and spell something wrong, or would like to change your reply there is no way to do so. Well that problem has been solved. From now on you can delete your personal discussion replies by clicking the delete icon under options.
We are constantly striving to improve GroupTable to better fit your needs and look forward to any additional feedback any of you have.
It’s the middle of the semester and you have that group project due in a few weeks. Group projects can be very stressful, but have no fear GroupTable, a student group management software has some tips to help you and your group project team.
1.Communication is Key
Communication is a key for a successful group to function. Maintaining frequent contact with group members will help everyone stay in the loop. If someone says something you don’t agree with don’t criticize them. Seek to understand their point of view and then express yours.
2. Assign Tasks & Set Deadlines
Assign tasks based on the strengths of each group member. Tasks should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound. Assigning tasks and setting deadlines will keep everyone in the group
on track, increase accountability and keep your group from procrastinating.
3. Make Everyone a Leader
If you notice something that can be done better in your group, take on a leadership role. It’s a great way to enhance your leadership skills and ensure that work gets done. Each member of the group should act as a leader from time to time. Keep Organized Typically groups have a lot of files and messages being sent back and forth. It can be very challenging to keep everything in order and make sure everyone has the most updated information. Using an online group collaborative tool can help you manage everything.
4. Go Virtual
Sometimes it can be very challenging to get all group members together at the same place and time. Meeting online through chat or using a group discussion board can really make life easier.
How much do you and your group like GroupTable? Now’s your chance to tell us and win some cool stuff in the process. We will be having two contests from now until December 1st. Below are some of the prizes we’ll be giving out and how you and your group can win.
NHL 2K9- xBox 360 game
How the Individual Contest Works
Create a video discussing the following
What you like the most about GroupTable
How GroupTable has helped your group
A short message convincing others why they should use GroupTable
Upload your video to youtube
Post the video on your Facebook profile
Become a Friend of the GroupTable Groupie by clicking This Link
Message GroupTable groupie through Facebook with “Game Contest” notifying us that your video is posted on your profile
On November 21st the contest will be closed to entries and we will select the top video to win the game. We’ll announce the winner on December 1st…Good luck!
$60 Gift Card to Darden Restaurants
Darden is the owner of Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and other fabulous restaurant chains. Encourage your group to participate in the contest and you may win a free lunch on us.
How the Group Contest Works
Create a funny video showing the hardships of group work without GroupTable. This can include:
Distractions at a meeting (people talking about desperate house wives/football/ bf or gf etc)
Schedule conflicts making it hard to meet
How inefficient communication is bc of too many repetitive phone calls or long email threads threads
Anything else you can think of is fair game.
Then show how great group work can be once your group is using GroupTable.
Become friends with “GroupTable groupie” on Facebook by clicking: This Link
Message “GroupTable groupie” with “Group Contest” in the subject line indicating your video is posted on a group members facebook Profile. Also include the link to the profile so we can view the video.
On November 21st the contest will be closed to entries. We will pick the best three videos and notify the group through Facebook on December 1st.
We also encourage all of you to become a fan of GroupTable on Facebook. You can do this by visiting our Facebook Fan Page Here.
September was a great month for GroupTable. We now have over 750 registered users and had close to a million hits for the month. This week we also added another member to our team. Her name is Kelly and she is a communications major/marketing minor at UCF. We are very excited to have her on board and know that she will bring a lot to the table. We’re also very glad to have the support of all of you. Your really helping us get the word out in your classes, through Facebook, Blogs, Tweets, etc. You guys rock!
I proclaim that Labor Day, 2008 be forever remembered as “Landing Page Replacement Day!” Put it in the history books…
A small step for GroupTable, a giant leap for our conversion rates. Sorry Old landing page…you tried, but your timid and uninformative ways didn’t drive enough action. The old must let go and move aside to make way for the new. Also tell your friend “YouTube GroupTable Demo May edition” that we no longer need his services. Landing pg V2 will be a good page…The New and Improved Landing page- The sugar and the spice, the plate of chicken wings with just right amount of hotsauce (That ones for Carl), the super sundae with rainbow sprinkles…I apologize where was I…Oh yeah
Effective 1:00 pm your contract is terminated and you will be replaced. We don’t care where you go, but you gotta get the hell outta here.
Deepest sympathies…The job market is tough
As for you GTV2 Landing page…you’ve been training hard, now is the time to shine… Lace up your boots your up!
Old Landing Page
ps…Feel free to leave your comments for GroupTable’s old landing page or words of encouragement for Landing page V2
Visit http://www.grouptable.com to see the replacement landing page…Book mark this post if it made you laugh
Our team has been working really hard over the last few weeks and GroupTable V2 should be ready to go very soon. It’s going to be awesome! In the mean time I just created a GroupTable Fan page on Facebook and you can become a fan! It would really help out with our movement and your support would mean a lot to me personally as well.
So if you haven’t heard, we are creating a new version of GroupTable that we have dubbed “GTV2″ (I know we’re sooo creative). We have been working hard on GTV2 based on your feedback and visions we have as well. GTV2 will have an enhanced design, additional features, better usability and a stronger backend. Today we had a very productive day and some great progress with GTV2. Here’s a picture of Zach & Carl discussing Geek stuff.
Our design is nearly complete and Zach & Carl were discussing how they plan on bringing GTV2 to life. Scott was in South Florida building relationships with organization heads and introducing them to GroupTable, but spent some time conferencing with me about cool things we are adding to our strategic plan. In addition to that I worked on creating content for certain pages that will be used on GTV2, as well as putting a time-line together for certain initiatives.
After our meeting we decided to celebrate a day well spent and went to grab some grub & drinks at Chilli’s…MMMM
Anyways, we look forward to sharing everything we have been working on for GTV2 with you guys in the Fall…Your gonna love it!
With the help of several professors, the GroupTable staff has put together a list of tips that we hope will help your group project team this upcoming semester. Here they are:
We’re working hard to enhance GroupTable for all of you and hope these tips combined with our software will help you save time and get better grades. See you in the Fall!
