This article reflects information as of 2020. For the latest details, please contact us.
This article is about 1,791 characters and takes roughly 5 minutes to read to the end. Written by: Qian Yunwen, Director / PR, tentus inc.
Hello and good evening, everyone.
Following on from the previous piece on WeChat Mini Programs, let me introduce the Chinese virtual study-room app "CoStudy" (线上自习室), which I recently found fascinating.
The previous article is here.
How to Use "CoStudy"
It's really simple to use. A campus-like screen appears. The left side has a shop, a cultural center, and a bulletin board. The center has a general building and dedicated-classroom buildings. The right side has buildings specifically for elementary/middle-school students, high-schoolers, university students, and working adults, respectively.
From here you choose your preferred building, classroom, and seat, and studying begins.
When I actually tried it, you can enter any building. There are no restrictions. But if you go to a building or classroom close to your own occupation, you can meet people with similar goals. In this image, red is girls, blue is boys, and a book means someone who's stepped away from their seat.
It's also very interesting that you can actually sit in the seats of this virtual classroom.
Also, pressing the speech bubble at the bottom right lets you enter a talk room. It's like the break time between classes — very realistic.
And the "小纸条" (little note) feature at the top left brings even more realism. "小纸条" means "a little slip of paper." Have you ever, during class, dodged the teacher's gaze and passed a note with your grumbles on it to a friend? It's that!
How "CoStudy" Works
The rules of this study app: one study session is up to 18 hours. And one "study ticket" item is consumed. You can also set your "focus time" and "break time."
If you leave the classroom on your own during study, one "study ticket" is consumed. Also, if you're away from the app for 15 seconds during "deep focus mode," or take a break or are more than one minute late, you're sent out of the classroom and one "study ticket" is consumed.
You can obtain "free study tickets" by completing various tasks in the app. There's also a shop, so you can purchase them there. There seem to be many other items too.
As of October 1, 2020, a "study ticket" is roughly 0.7 yuan each, about 10.88 yen. An unlimited-study ticket for a set period, the "Anywhere Door ticket," runs from about 5 to 24.8 yuan each — about 77.71 to 385.46 yen.
It's by no means expensive, but because it makes you pay even a small amount to purchase, it's a mechanism that pushes you to work hard so as not to waste it — I think it becomes an incentive to work at studying.
The Appeal of "CoStudy"
I went around a few buildings and classrooms and looked at random.
Just when I thought there wouldn't be any elementary-schoolers, I met this child in Henan Province. This child's study days number 8, total study time is 12 hours 53 minutes, and the goal is to rank first in the class.
I also met a kid with a crazy amount of study time. This university student's study days number 60, total study time is 629 hours 11 minutes, and the goal is to pass grad-school admission. So they're studying about 10 hours a day on average?!
This freelancer's study days number 16, total study time is 57 hours 10 minutes, and the goal is a teaching qualification.
This freelancer's study days number 16, total study time is 57 hours 10 minutes, and the goal is a teaching qualification.
In this way, many people are working hard toward their own goals. You can also follow and cheer on people you don't know. If you follow people with the same goal, or people who study often, it feels like you're working hard together even in silence.
Studying, of course, but also work tasks, exercise, and so on — haven't you ever felt lonely keeping something up alone? Fiddling with this app reminded me of studying for exams with friends back in my school days.
Especially for students who can't go to school now due to COVID, and people working hard toward a goal in isolation, I think it's a reassuring ally.
In China's App Store, this study app has over 7,000 comments and a score of 4.8. It seems to be a still-new service, so its future growth is something to look forward to!
Seeing this service reminded me of a virtual-meeting tool called "Remo."
https://remo.co/
I'm also looking forward to virtual bars and virtual beer gardens! lol