The creation of this moodle was an excellent lesson in marketing within the internet. Its core design was revised multiple times, and the structure is what made the difference with data collection as well.

Originally, the site consisted of a main page that contained the quizzes and news forums. Users then registered for "sub-sections" that were specific to different tests: SAT, ACT, GRE, etc. The initial intention was to help the users find others studying for the same exam. However, after two weeks, it was obvious that users were only going to the main site and not even visiting the sub-sections, and therefore they were not even seeing the forums appear on their screen.

After questioning a few users, it was decided to eliminate the sub-sections and group all the information on a single page. Users are naturally "lazy" on the internet, they will take the shortest distance or number of clicks as possible. Dividing the site into multiple sections caused parts to be ignored. The new, main page was then designed with the quizzes, the most high traffic feature of the site, at the very bottom. Forums were placed above it, and news boards were located at the very top of the page. This forced the users to at least make the news boards and forums appear on their screen every time they went in to take a quiz.

This change immediately caused more traffic on the forums due to their increased exposure. It can be likened to the placement of feature items in a grocery store - people will buy things they did not intend on buying when they entered the store, simply because the item was along their path to the original destination.

Data collection was also heavily impacted by the design of the site. Geographic location was a mandatory question at the time of registration, and therefore data was easily collected about the entire population. But data concerning career goals and studying in the USA was voluntary, and few users will give up their time for nothing in return. A few more users volunteered their information after I, Chris Liang, posted my own goals and reasons. Posts by leaders in the community can help spark discussion and also model the use of the forums.

The actual data collected reflects a higher number of foreign users than originally anticipated. Although American users still make up the majority, about one third of the population is from foreign countries. The range of countries is also very broad and covers four different continents. More resources for studying abroad in the USA is now being planned for the site to help support these users. The emphasis of the site and the podcast will also become more universal - cultural examples that only US citizens would know will be eliminated.

In reference to career goals, no specific goal dominated the group. The amount of data is also very unrepresentative of the eighty-nine users, and cannot be used to make any significant evaluations of what the overall community need.

The reasons for studying in the USA were straightforward and lacked the depth or controversial statements expected. They brought up a completely logical train of thought: it is more convenient for US citizens to study in the USA. The numbers of responses was too small once again to make any serious conclusions, but the initial data implies that US citizens are content with the level of their universities and convenience is a major factor. Studying abroad is an expensive and difficult transition, especially if one studies for multiple years, and staying within one's resident country is a much simpler task.