https://upenn.zoom.us/j/96475540720?pwd=RUVWVDliUFJQem5ROHRJRkJSbGs4dz09

In response to the on-going pandemic, Penn student Vaj Shroff has created three apps: first Virtual Hour, an online office hours platform used by faculty at Yale, Dartmouth, NYU, and Penn; second Virtual Event, a more general school events platform; and most recently Magic Connects, "a community of students looking to make meaningful and abiding connections", which has spread to more than 65 U.S. colleges and universities. Quoting their site:

In our survey, 87% of instructors noted decreased student engagement compared to the year before the COIVD-19 pandemic. 92% of student clubs and organizations observed an increase in disengagement among their members. Nearly every student reported difficulty in meeting new people and "often felt lonely."

Current solutions don't work 76% of the students believe Zoom breakout rooms and tools like Canvas discussion boards have NEVER helped them make meaningful connections.

They want their university to "adopt a better platform" to facilitate connecting students with each other.

Vraj was a featured guest for a CWIP (Conversations With Interesting People) event last semester, after Virtual Event started, but before Magic Connects. Join us to learn how Magic Connects is working -- and more generally, to discuss how the pandemic is changing real and virtual life.