With finals approaching, you may be wondering how you can study with friends and classmates in a safe, distanced and even fun way? We have listed five ways you can still connect and study with friends or classmates in a virtual setting. These tips and tools will allow you to hold your friends accountable and ensure that you are preparing for those upcoming finals!

1. Create a virtual study group

Using Zoom, FaceTime, Google Hangout or another video conferencing tool allows you to connect with your friends and classmates in a safe way while still being “face to face.” Set a day and time and meet with your friends for a designated study period. It is useful to set a plan before the study time to decide what you will work on such as practice questions, talking through a certain topic or having each person cover a certain topic. It may be useful to set a few dates to study for 45-60 minutes to keep everyone engaged and on topic. If you and your friends are all studying different topics you can still create a study group to hold each other accountable for studying during a certain time. Use the first few minutes to check in and ask how everyone is doing; it’s important to support each other in your studies and in life.

2. Add your classmates and friends to a group message

As you start studying for finals, you may find yourself wanting to ask your friends or classmates questions about topics that were covered earlier in the semester. Or maybe you want to double check the requirements for a final paper? Check in with your friends and classmates and create a study group message! You can use messaging tools such as GroupMe, Slack or Microsoft Teams to easily share documents, resources or notes. If you are wondering about something, others may be too so reach out and create a group to ask questions and send friendly reminders for deadlines to your friends.

3. Create an online, shared study guide

Sometimes it can seem overwhelming to review all the material you have covered throughout the entire semester. By using a shared document such as Google Docs, a Microsoft Teams page, Quizlet flash cards, Go Conqr or LucidChart, you and your friends can work on creating a shared study guide for your finals. Before you start working, you could divide up the sections each person is going to work on and then each person can add in their notes and comments about the sections. Once you have completed the study guide, you could even have a virtual study time to talk through the more complicated concepts. Either way a shared study guide will allow you to connect with friends or classmates and ensure you don’t miss any of the material on the exam!

4. Use a productivity timer during your study sessions

While many of us are at home, it’s easy to become distracted by our family members, pets or social media. While you are studying with your friends via Zoom, sending reminders via a study group or maybe you are creating an online study guide, use a productivity timer to keep everyone on track. By doing a quick Google search you will find a number of options that allow you to set a certain time to study and then set a timed break, so you know when to get back to work. You and your friends can become productive and focused on your work as you set a designated study time. Once your timer goes off then you can chat and take a break before it’s time to study again!

5. Study and compete against friends online

Online learning tools such as Kahoot, Quizziz or Wisc-Online allow you and your friends to study for finals in an interactive and competitive way! Divide up the material that you want to cover and create the questions you want to be asked. Kahoot allows you to join a group using a code and then you can study and compete to prepare for your exams. It will even let you add your Bitmoji! Quizziz is a way to create quizzes and polls for your exam material that you can then share with friends. Wisc-Online allows you to enter the material you would like to study and then play a number of games. These are just a few examples of online learning tools you can use to compete and study with your friends!

Although we can’t study face to face with our friends and classmates right now, there are still plenty of ways to make sure you succeed on your upcoming finals! Use these options or an idea of your own to study and connect with friends and classmates this finals season!

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