It’s 9:30 p.m. and a cellphone on the bedside table begins to light up over and over. Text message after text message is sent through the iMessage app to a group chat for Accelerated Precalculus/Calculus A. Screenshots of textbook pages, explanations of problems and discussion of other subjects simmer through the vibrant chat.
Group chats where students help each other study for exams and complete homework provide quick responses, making them useful for U-High students.
Junior Wendell He, who has been in the APC group chat since it began two years ago, described the chat as incredibly helpful, especially when Wendell’s class has worksheets where the teacher has not posted answers.
The group chat is mainly used for homework help where students explain how to do the assigned math problems.
“They walk you through the process and then give you the building blocks, and then you have to find the answer yourself,” Wendell said.
Wendell mainly uses the chat to find guidance, but provides help if they have completed homework nearby.
Ninth grader Isaac Sutherland is in an iMessage Accelerated Advanced Algebra/Trigonometry group chat that he uses to access materials he forgot to bring home.
“If I didn’t bring the materials I needed home, I can ask for them,” Isaac said.
Compared to alternative methods of seeking help, such as emailing teachers or using online resources, group chats provide faster communication.
“With messages it’s very instant because you’re in a group with a lot of other people,” Wendell said. “Other people can just chime in if someone’s unavailable. Some other person is probably online.”
Group chats minimize the number of emails teachers get, especially late at night.
Many students get confused, Isaac said, and it’s not ideal for teachers to get so many emails.
Math isn’t the only subject to have group chats. Many students are in multiple class chats. Isaac is in a Latin group chat, and Wendell was in an English chat last year.
Besides iMessage, group chats can be found on other platforms such as Discord or Instagram, which are often used for club or personal chats.
Whether group chats are used for midnight studying or an early-morning quiz review, students find comfort in the guidance given through class group chats. An entire class of students, all watching the same gray-and-blue sequence of bubbles illuminate their screen, can find images of materials they forgot to bring home, help with complicated problems, and explanations of confusing concepts and formulas — all through a single app.
