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Study plans are the foundation of your learning journey in Study Sync. They act as templates or blueprints that contain curated learning resources, which you can then turn into active study sessions (called instances).

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Understanding Study Plans

A study plan is a reusable collection of learning resources organized for a specific course or topic. Think of it as a master template that can be:
  • Created once and used multiple times
  • Shared with classmates or study groups
  • Published publicly for the community
  • Edited and improved over time
Key Concept: Study plans are templates. To actually study from a plan, you create an instance of it. This allows multiple people to use the same plan while tracking their own individual progress.

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Creating a Study Plan

1

Navigate to Create Plan

Click on “Create Plan” from your dashboard or the main navigation menu.
2

Fill in Basic Information

Provide essential details about your study plan:
  • Title: A descriptive name for your plan
  • Course Code: The course identifier (e.g., CS101, MATH201)
  • Short Description: A brief summary (displayed in listings)
  • Full Description: Detailed information about what the plan covers
  • Visibility: Choose whether to make it public or keep it private
3

Add Learning Resources

Build your resource collection by adding various types of content:
  • YouTube Videos: Automatically fetches video metadata and duration
  • YouTube Playlists: Imports all videos from a playlist at once
  • PDF Documents: Specify page count and reading pace
  • Articles: Add blog posts or web articles with estimated reading time
  • Google Drive Links: Share files from Google Drive
  • Custom Links: Any other learning resource URL
Simply paste the URL and Study Sync will automatically fetch metadata like titles, durations, and thumbnails where possible.
4

Organize Resources

Drag and drop resources to reorder them in your preferred learning sequence. This order will be preserved when students create instances.
5

Save and Publish

Click “Create Study Plan” to save your plan. If you marked it as public, it will appear in the public plans library for others to discover.

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Editing Study Plans

You can edit your study plans at any time:
  1. Navigate to the plan details page
  2. Click the “Edit Plan” button (only visible if you have edit permissions)
  3. Modify any information or resources
  4. Reorder resources using drag-and-drop
  5. Save your changes
Important: When you edit a study plan, existing instances based on that plan are not affected. Each instance takes a snapshot of resources at creation time, ensuring students aren’t disrupted by changes.

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Study Plan Metadata

Each study plan displays helpful metadata:
  • Total Resources: Number of learning materials included
  • Total Time: Estimated time to complete all resources
  • Instance Count: How many students have started this plan
  • Creator Information: Who created the plan
  • Last Modified: When the plan was last updated and by whom

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Public vs Private Plans

Public plans are visible to all Study Sync users:
  • Appear in the public plans library
  • Can be discovered through search
  • Anyone can create instances from them
  • Great for sharing with the community
  • Increase your plan’s instance count
Use public plans when you want to:
  • Share your curated resources with others
  • Build a study guide for a popular course
  • Collaborate with a large group

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Plan Organization Best Practices

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Logical Sequencing

Arrange resources in a logical learning progression:
  • Start with foundational concepts
  • Build towards more complex topics
  • Include review materials at the end

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Resource Variety

Mix different types of resources to maintain engagement:
  • Combine videos with reading materials
  • Add quick articles between longer content
  • Balance theoretical and practical resources

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Realistic Time Estimates

When adding resources, ensure time estimates are accurate:
  • For PDFs, consider your reading speed (default is 3 minutes per page)
  • For articles, estimate based on length and complexity
  • Test your plan to verify total time is achievable

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Clear Descriptions

Write helpful descriptions that answer:
  • What topics does this plan cover?
  • Who is it designed for?
  • What prerequisites are needed?
  • What will students achieve by completing it?

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Browsing and Discovering Plans

Study Sync offers several ways to find study plans:

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Search and Filters

  • Search by keywords: Find plans by title or description
  • Filter by course code: Browse plans for specific courses
  • Sort options:
    • Newest: Recently created plans
    • Popular: Most-used plans by instance count
    • Shortest: Plans with fewer resources

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My Plans View

Access all plans where you are:
  • The creator
  • A shared collaborator (viewer or editor)
  • Part of the shared team

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Next Steps

Once you’ve created a study plan:
  1. Share it with classmates using the collaboration features
  2. Create an instance to start studying from it
  3. Track your progress as you complete resources

Instances

Learn how to create active study sessions from your plans

Collaboration

Discover how to share plans and work with study groups

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