Students want to be part of communities within their schools. They want to connect with other students: to feel like they are part of something larger than themselves. Not only that, those connections, both virtual and in person, can provide a key indicator of potential student success. Communities can help students get answers to their questions, make them feel more confident about their learning, and help them feel more engaged and plugged in both inside and outside of class.
Pronto can help build those valuable student learning communities and provide the tools students need to enhance success.
Pronto helps students connect on their terms.
For years, college students have shown increased signs of anxiety. They may carry a great deal of stress on their shoulders as they juggle work, school responsibilities, and social interactions. They are also in an unfamiliar environment, often surrounded by people they have never met before. Today’s college students may struggle to start relationships by simply going up to someone and beginning a conversation, even over something as simple as double-checking an assignment or getting more information from a peer.
Pronto helps overcome some of the challenges associated with that communication and takes the pressure off. Instead of having to interact immediately, dredging up their courage at the moment, students can connect via the virtual chat options, which may make them feel more comfortable with those peer-to-peer interactions.
Pronto gets students in touch with other members of their classes, major groups, and activity groups.
Many students, especially in large colleges and universities, may never have the chance to connect with other members of their cohorts directly. They can attend the class for four years alongside someone and never learn their name, especially if there are a lot of people in most of their major classes. Pronto helps remove those communication barriers. Students will get used to seeing the names of their classmates in front of them and even learn a little about those classmates’ personalities as they interact through the app. Through Pronto, students can get a feel for which of their peers tend to have consistent classroom attendance, which ones often have the answers to complicated questions, and which ones agree with them about key questions within their majors. They’ll often also get a better overall feel for who they might like to communicate with outside the app–and often, that will be enough incentive to get them over the initial hump and encourage them to communicate in person, too.
Pronto makes it easy for professors and teachers to create small group learning communities.
Group work can significantly enhance student learning and allow those students to work together effectively. If students are struggling, they may benefit from working together on an assignment or from using one another as resources. However, many students do not know who is available to work with. Through Pronto, you can create small group learning opportunities.
- Create opportunities for students to come together for tutoring if you notice that multiple students seem to be struggling with the same basic concept.
- Divide students into groups for group work, especially if students are struggling to make those connections on their own.
- Offer breakout sessions and discussions within the app to help keep discourse lively and make it easier for students to interact with one another–and to go the extra mile with their studies.
Pronto puts communication where students are used to having it: in their hands.
One of the biggest benefits of Pronto is that it works on the devices your students are already using every day. Most of your students probably have smartphones. They prefer to connect via text. They’re comfortable video chatting with friends and peers. They’re familiar with notifications popping up on their phones and deciding when they want to respond to those communications. Pronto integrates with those processes that students are already using. It fits their current schedules and their current needs. It’s intuitive and easy to use, which means there are few barriers to getting started, and it works enough like the apps that students are already using that they will soon wonder why they didn’t have this option earlier in their educational careers.
Pronto is the solution to many student learning challenges, including difficulty building and feeling accepted as part of a community. With Pronto, student communities are in their hands–and students become much more likely to engage and learn within those environments. Want to learn more? Contact us today for a free demonstration.