Howard University Uses ConnectYard to Facilitate Greater Communication and Collaboration Amongst Students

Students expands social network beyond "friends" to facilitate study buddy, cohort and mentor opportunities

Wayne, New Jersey - July 21, 2009

ConnectYard, Inc. today announced that Howard University, located in Washington D.C., will use its social learning service to increase communication and collaboration amongst student teams in areas of study related to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for the Fall semester. Dr. Wade Boykin, Professor of Developmental Psychology at Howard University, elected to use ConnectYard to support a new collaborative learning project that targeted students in STEM disciplines because of its ability to help students easily facilitate the formation and discovery of study groups within the Howard community as well as share course related information with one another through popular social media, including Facebook and Twitter.

ConnectYard incorporates a unique matching engine that "pushes" students study partners, content, and events that are relevant to their interests, i.e. , rank, class, and major, as well as social and learning interactions on the site. This helps students expand their social network beyond just "friends" to facilitate study buddy, cohort and mentor opportunities. It's through this extended network that students can use ConnectYard to get help with questions they may have about an assignment or upcoming exam. In addition, notification of relevant university-wide events and support services facilitates the integration of students into the campus. All of which has been shown to be a key component of student persistence.

"We chose ConnectYard to support our study projects because it effectively increases student-student and student-faculty communication," said Dr. Wade Boykin, Professor of Developmental Psychology at Howard University. "Its ability to make students aware of important information via Facebook, Twitter and text messaging was also extremely important."

About ConnectYard
ConnectYard specializes in helping colleges and universities effectively leverage the power of social media to improve student retention by extending the learning environment outside of the classroom into where students live and socialize - online. The Company's Web 2.0 solutions are built upon a foundation of proven success and customer-driven innovation with a high focus on enhancing learning and building community amongst students.

ConnectYard, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey. For more information on how ConnectYard can help your institution maximize student recruitment and retention, please visit www.connectyard.com or contact us at 973-494-8041.

PRESS CONTACT: PR, ConnectYard - 508 Hamburg Turnpike, 105D - Wayne, NJ 07470 - Tel. 973.494.8041 - E-mail: pr@connectyard.com - Website: www.connectyard.com