One major problem for many Chinese college students is that they do not have a very motivational and positive studying atmosphere, in which students can proactively discuss academic topics and experiences, collaborate actively, and help one another with difficulties and confusions. Therefore, I want to invent a network to solve this problem and make it easier for college students to study collaboratively.
A number of reasons can account for this problem, but in my opinion, there are three major reasons. For starters, secondary education in China does not particularly encourage students to discuss and collaborate, as its main goal is to prepare students for competing in Gaokao. The result is that most middle school graduates do not have the habit and the ability to seek discussion and collaboration, which are vital to success in higher education. What’s more, with an expansion of student numbers in universities, class sizes are also increasingly large. Subsequently, it is hard for professors to organize and ignite discussions and debates in class, and students don’t have enough opportunities to practice academic discussions and collaborations. Additionally, in recent years, college students spend a large amount of time on social media, such as QQ, WeChat and Weibo, which are mostly filled with entertainment contents with little space for academic discussions.
In order to solve the problem, I believe that college students need a new network with an easy-to-use app that enables them to seek discussions and collaborations with peers who are equally curious and motivated.
To begin with, there need to be critical regulations to make sure this network works as expected. It is only open to college students, required to use real names so that it will make a friendly and comfortable environment without spams or abusive language. By employing advanced AI system, this network only allows users to post topics that are relevant to academic studies and future careers.
There are at least two features in this network. Firstly, if a student is interested in an academic topic, or has a feasible learning or research plan, she can write a post with her ideas and questions to seek collaboration or group work. She can list the characteristics of her ideal collaborators and even conduct interviews for students who are interested, which will also help students to practice skills of conducting and attending interviews. It follows that students can look for the various projects they want to participate in.
Secondly, the network also provides a payment system for students who face difficulties in learning and need to seek help and tutoring, and those who want to share their knowledge and make some money. Students who are capable of and love sharing or teaching can even organize a tutoring class, since it is said that the best way to learn something is by teaching it.
Furthermore, this network could consist of most universities in China. Students across the country can catch up with trends and activities in other universities. There can be collaborations and competitions across different universities.
In summary, I believe that an easy-to-use academic social network will greatly improve the studying atmospheres in Chinese universities. Students across the country would enjoy a reliable network, providing them more opportunities to study proactively and collaboratively.
