This is a Guest Post by Mariana Ashley who writes at www.onlinecolleges.net . You can also write for KT by submitting your article on our Contact Us Page .


Have Study Sessions with Your Classmates with Skype

Just because you're pursuing your degree online doesn't mean you have to be a hermit, and it certainly doesn’t mean you can't organize a study group with your online classmates. Whether your fellow students live in your city, across the country or on another continent, you can still connect with them and learn together. How?

Skype!

Skype offers peer-to-peer communication software that allows for face-to-face video calling, instant messaging, file sharing and many of the elements you'd expect from a landline or mobile phone. Since 2003, Skype has accumulated over 663 million registered users, according to Telecompaper.com.

For instant messaging and computer-to-computer calling, Skype is 100% free, which makes it ideal for any student on a budget. Furthermore, Skype has several helpful features for an interactive study group experience:

Conversations : In the world of Skype, a chat room is called a conversation, and you can invite (or restrict) as many users as you'd like. You also have the ability to name different conversations, so you can have a different group conversation for every subject. You can also edit and remove sent messages.

Saved conversations : Need to look back at that Freudian concept discussed in your Psychology Study Group conversation from a few months ago? With Skype's time stamp feature, you can load and view all of your recent conversations within daily, weekly or monthly increments. There is also a "Find" feature to help you search your entire chat history by a keyword.

File sharing : Feel free to safely share notes or e-books with your group by simply posting them into the conversation for download. You can also see who has had the file downloaded and who still hasn't.

Shared contacts : New study buddy in your group? You can share all of your contact information with him or her and invite them into conversations. This allows everyone in your group to easily connect with the new kid without the need to contact them directly for their Skype ID.

Group Video Calling : If you have a webcam and microphone installed, you can upgrade to Skype 5.0 and download Group Video Calling.

Furthermore, with Skype you'll also be using some of the most creative and entertaining emoticons on the internet. Worried about an upcoming exam? Choose from a nervous emoticon, a worried sweating emoticon, or an angry red face banging its head against the wall. Think of it as the equivalent of seeing your classmate across the room putting a 'finger gun' to their head during a boring lecture. Just because you're going to school online, it doesn't mean you can't still enjoy the company of your classmates.

Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online college. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031 @gmail.com.