If you're familiar with the Studiosity mission, you'll know that we are focused on increasing life chances for individual students, to lead to greater-scale educational equity. We're trying to change the world, one student at a time.
And that means putting students first. While our collaboration with educators and the Higher Education sector remains integral, we formed the Studiosity Circle to bring together the worlds of online learning support and UX, so that it's always our users who are helping to build the service, not just for classmates at their own university, but for students globally.
One of our Circle members, Lauren, shares tips for other students
To keep students at the centre, we gather them in the Circle
Now at 140 members and counting, the Studiosity Circle is our invite-only advisory panel. Student Members are very familiar with the Studiosity service, and are invited to join under various circumstances. For example, after they offer unsolicited feedback to help improve the service, after they consistently
participate in product user testing, or consistently leave service feedback following their own support sessions.
"As a mature aged student, who hasn’t studied for a long period of time (nearly 20 years to be exact) being able to engage with a service like Studiosity increased my confidence 10 fold. There are hundreds, if not thousands of students out there like me, wondering if their assignment is on the right track, does it make sense, have I followed the correct paragraph structure, is my referencing right – and this is where Studiosity matters. It matters because you can submit your assignment to a real life human who can read over it, and provide you with real time feedback to help you achieve your ultimate goal of succeeding."
- Tegan Sutton, Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Primary Education, QLD
Having this go-to group provides us with diverse perspectives into the student experience. A caring, engaged, and bold group of leaders for other students, their ideas continuously help improve our technology and service, ensure a direct path of feedback so we remain precisely fit for purpose, and their support moves us further toward our mission.
Continuous conversations with students
Several times a year, Circle Members are invited to Studiosity 'Meet Ups', to deliver ideas and feedback in
person, to tell their stories, and to network with other students who are interested in the student experience.
Students workshopping ideas at our Meetup, January 2020. See full video here.
Of course in 2020, these have become digital, but we're looking forward to when they can resume as real-life experiences again. One benefit of having them online has been the ability to meet students from all over the country, even if just 'face to webcam'.
Members at a virtual meetup in September 2020
Providing opportunities and perks
Members get all kinds of opportunities, including access to exclusive events and industry conferences, media stories, video/photo shoots, focus groups, surveys, product testing and more. They're also encouraged to add their Circle membership to their CV and LinkedIn profile. They act as our 'go to' for any changes we make, for advice, feedback, and as student representatives for education and political leaders.
We strongly believe that students need to have a place at the table when it comes to discussions, services, and events that pertain to their education. So, we invite them.
Working together to achieve more
One of our recent projects which the Studiosity Circle have been an integral part of developing, is the launch of our Student Connect service. We collaborated on hours of user testing, workshopping and feedback from students to ensure that the functionality and experience of the service, from both a student user and a Student Mentor perspective, had diverse input and ideas.
As we head into another year and our student base grows, we're excited to see the growth of the Circle too, as more students are empowered to help other students, and broaden their own experience.
If you have any questions about the Circle, membership requirements or benefits, please feel free email engagement@studiosity.com
