When you hear the words "study" and "learning" you might imagine an intimidating stack of books and a mess of scribbled notes spread all over a desk..

But true learning can be a far cleaner, more creative and active process than that. 

So whether you're approaching exams or tests,  or are just looking for new ways of making important information more accessible, memorable and engaging, here are some tips to help you get the most out of your studies in the year ahead using GoConqr's suite of learning tools.

The dashboard is the main screen of GoConqr and where you can access all the tools and functions. Its main sections are:

Top menu: Direct access to the resource creation tools (via the Create button), the Search box,  your account details, private messages and site alerts the main areas of GoConqr through the top menu

.Central Screen: Your activity feed with everything relevant that is happening in GoConqr.

Right Hand Side: An overview of your Study Calendar and the events of the coming days, plus recently seen resources and Courses, and any pending friend requests or group invites.

Left Hand Side: Direct access to your Groups, Subjects, Courses and Suggested Resources, GoConqr Announcements, and Hints and Tips.

Clicking on your profile box (your picture on the left), opens your profile which you can edit. You should keep this up to date so that we can recommend relevant content for you. 
You will see a summary of information about you and a listing of your friends (and any pending invites), your groups and your resources.

You can control what parts of your information other people see, but they will be able to see any public resources that you have created. 
You can edit your profile by clicking 'actions' or 'edit'.
When viewing a stranger's profile, you will see the option to 'invite' them to be your friend.
When viewing a friend's profile, you will see an option to send them a private message.

You will notice that in your activity feed, we suggest resources and Groups that you might be interested in, based on your profile. Clicking 'see more' will show you even more suggested content, and let you filter by resource type.

We also suggest content based on the resources in your subject folder so you can see what people with similar resource tags are creating.

You can access the Suggested Content page directly by clicking on 'Suggested Content' on the Left Hand Side of your home page,


Remember to keep your profile up to date and your resources properly categorised so that we can make the best possible suggestions. You can copy or pin these resources to your Subject folders.

The Search bar at the top of the page is a very powerful tool that allows you to find resources and courses in our Public library, People and Groups.

You can then filter Resources by type, and by whether they were created by, pinned by, or shared with, you.

You can access or request to join groups, view people's profiles, interact with resources, or enroll in Courses from the results page.

There are two tabs in your Subject folders.

Resources, contains resources you have created and pinned. You can further organise these into topics. You will also find resources we have suggested for you here,

Analytics shows interactions with all your Subjects resources - you can see your own score on a resource and you can see information about other people's views.

The calendar at the top tracks your own interaction with your subject folder.

The first step in any successful learning process is to create a customized study plan.
Access your study planner by clicking on the Calendar on the Right Hand Side of your dashboard, or by selecting Calendar from the drop down menu on the top of the page.
To add your tasks to the calendar you only need to drag your subjects within the calendar and fill in the details. 
You can mark events as once off or recurring,
You can click on 'subject breakdown' to see what percentage of time you are allocating to each subject and make sure you are not missing anything.

You can find Public Groups to join on topics you are interested in, or you can create your own Group and invite friends.
Start discussions, share resources, or even run polls.
Collaborating with other students helps you learn, as you hold each other accountable in reaching your learning goals.

A good Mind Map can save you hours of study and further consolidate your knowledge as you head towards your exams. The Mind Maps tool is extremely versatile and can be used for brainstorming, outlining essays or study topics, mapping curriculum and for general exam preparation.

GoConqr lets users create Mind Maps quickly and easily, thereby making them the ideal study resource when it comes to exam preparation.

Taking good Notes is one of the most study skills to master.

Essentially the aim of note-taking is to summarise lectures or articles in your own words so you can easily remember the ideas.

 In most cases, the key is to summarise the important information so that you will absorb key points more easily.

 By utilising GoConqr's Notes feature, you can create brief yet brilliant study notes that really work.

You can also add images and videos, or embed other resources in your notes.

Using Flashcards is a particularly effective method of learning when trying to assimilate different facts, dates, formulas or vocabulary. Subjects such as History, Physics, Maths, Chemistry, Geography or languages are made much easier when you incorporate Flashcards into your studies.

Flashcards offer a simple, fun and effective way of memorising important information. Because they are so simple to make, they are one of the most efficient study resources at your disposal. What’s more, once you've created them, they'll be  readily available online so you can access them at any time, from any place, including the GoConqr mobile apps that let you study from your smartphone!

Quizzes are an excellent way to review study notes in the weeks and days before an exam. They can highlight the areas in which you are strong and those that are in need of improvement, meaning you can focus your efforts more effectively.

In addition, sharing study quizzes with friends and classmates will allow you to test one another as often as you like so that you can deepen you knowledge and discover more about any areas you may have overlooked.

Creating learning summaries helps you organise content so that it displays all the relevant facts in a simple and engaging way. Slides not only improve your capacity for synthesis - they also help you increase your understanding and recollection of topics .

The GoConqr Slides is a fantastic tool that lets you easily compile all your content in one handy resource, thereby giving you greater control over your studies.

You can also embed resources in your slides and add video and images.

Flowcharts are used in business for documenting processes as well as in computer science for modelling. They can be particularly useful for documenting a decision process.

Getting to know the symbols used is important for some subjects, but how creative you can be with your flowchart is up to you!

The Course Builder tool allows you to bring resources on a particular topic together into a Course. They can be resources that you have created, that your friends have shared with you, or that you have discovered in our public library.

You can edit the Course over a term or semester, adding to it as you go. Or you could create a Course to test a friend and help them revise - you can set it so they have to get a minimum score before they can continue or finish your course!

Now its time to for you to get started:

Dive in and start Creating your resources 

Invite your friends and class to join GoConqr to build your learning community 

Share your resources amongst your learning community 

Discover great new insights from  the millions of resources in our GoConqr resource library 

We'd love to hear what you think..
Let us know by dropping us a message on Twitter @goconqr, liking our Facebook page,  or mailing at feedback@goconqr.com