If you've gone to college, you're probably familiar with the anxieties of the first day of class in a large lecture hall. You grab a seat, get the phone numbers or Facebooks of the people sitting around you, and they become your peer resource in the class. That's what happened to Ravi Pilla, co-founder of edtech startup StudyCloud, when he was in large lecture classes as an undergrad studying computer science at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
"Whenever exams came up, those were the people we'd rely on," he said. "If we didn't know, then we were out of luck. No interaction really happened through our learning management tools."
So along with a few fellow computer science and engineering students, he set out to make a learning management system could connect students and professors in a simple, social, and effective way. The result is StudyCloud, an online platform for connecting students in classes that has been used by over 10,000 students at 12 different universities since they began developing the platform in 2011. Recently StudyCloud joined DeVry's 1871 incubator DV X, and have plans to double their reach by next spring, as well as expand their platform to manage "professors without universities."
Here's how it works. Unlike Blackboard or other learning management systems often used by universities, StudyCloud hyper-focuses on user experience. Professors post course material, input important dates, and can communicate with students via the platform. Students can view material posted by the professor or fellow students, get alerts when there are tests and deadlines, and chat with fellow students through discussion threads. The interface looks like a visual timeline that brings together relevant materials, dates, and discussions. The functions are closely tied to user's needs: Pilla said they update the site every two weeks based on feedback from professors and students.
Students pay a $20 subscription per semester, which covers any class that is using StudyCloud. Pilla likened this to the cost of a textbook, and pointed out that though using StudyCloud is generally optional for students, it adds supplemental benefits that can help them succeed in the course.
The learning management system space is crowded, Pilla admits, but they're hoping to become the go-to platform by building off early success and expanding via professors, rather than institutions.
When they initially built StudyCloud and tested it as a way for students to network about study groups and assignments, they saw their users grow from 200 to 2,000 in their first semester. Since then, they've grown to be at 12 universities, including Northern Illinois University, Northwestern, and UIC.
Instead of presenting to institutions, they decided to shop it out to individual professors unhappy with the slew of complicated features found in the university's management systems. This way they can be closer to those who are using their product, Pilla said. So far he said feedback has been good, with professors comparing it to "Facebook in an academic environment."
“I really like how StudyCloud gave students a calendar to quickly see upcoming events," said Gretchen Adams, a chemistry professor at UIUC in a testimonial. "The notification system was very useful and made sure that students never missed an assignment or event. The interface was initiative for me to use and allowed me to effortlessly transition from my old course website.”
Now working through DV X, StudyCloud hopes to extend to 24 universities by the start of the spring semester and begin raising capital. They are also expanding outside the university space to include "professors without universities." These are experts in their field who teach large virtual courses that may not be affiliated with a university, Pilla explained. For example, they are currently working with Bay Area yoga instructor Yogi Mahendra to distribute course materials.
"We're taking learning communities from the university space to any professor that is teaching anywhere," said Pilla.
