This weekend, Georgetown will expand its online presence through its year-long pilot partnership with Grockit, an interactive learning start-up.

Founded in 2007 by Farb Nivi, a former National Teacher of the Year for The Princeton Review and Academic Director at Kaplan Test Prep, Grockit employs adaptive learning algorithms, gaming aspects and visual tools to help students prepare for tests like the SAT, GMAT, LSAT and MCAT. The company also identifies students’ academic weaknesses and tracks their progress.

The administration reached out to Grockit after discovering through conversations with students over the summer a campus-wide desire for additional applications and software that directly apply to academic life.

The company will now begin developing supplementary educational tools for students and alumni. The program pilot will be open to all students and alumni interested in experimenting with the platform.

Grockit recently raised an additional $7 million in funding to expand its services, which now include Facebook Study Rooms, audio conferencing, shared whiteboards, chat rooms for peer tutoring and Grockit Answers, a tool that transforms YouTube videos into question and answer sessions.

The initiative has been spearheaded by Randy Bass, assistant provost and director of Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship, Michael Wang, special assistant to the Chief Operating Officer and Victor Reinoso, a senior advisor to university President John J. DeGioia.

Georgetown will launch its partnership with Grockit through its Start-Up Weekend, held in the McDonough School of Business today through Sunday. The events — open to students, alumni, faculty and D.C. residents — will allow participants to share their thoughts with the Grockit team.

Grockit’s services are based on its research that demonstrates that students benefit from collaborate study. Many students believe that the Grockit platform can supplement their preferred study habits, which often tend to be individual-focused.

“I prefer studying alone because I avoid distraction, and it’s easier because I can just study what I need to study and control how long I work,” Christian Keenum (MSB ’15) said. “I also like to study in groups because I can ask questions. … The chat room function is a crucial advantage, because you can have instant communication, and typing online is less distracting than conversing in person.”