The new GoSoapBox app aims to give both students and teachers an effective tool to deal with the very real issue of student engagement.

The Matt Damon Effect

By now you have probably seen the video of Matt Damon standing next to his mom—who is a professor of early childhood education—and coming to the defense of teachers everywhere after a reporter makes a flippant comment that suggests ‘bad’ teachers exist because they have greater job security than most other professionals. Whether you agree with this or not, what is undeniable is that a teacher’s job is never done. The rewards tend to be little victories, knowing that you are making a positive impact in the life of a child, even if at times it is hard to measure.

GoSoapBox — How It Works

The developers of GoSoapBox have come up with an application that just may help bridge the gap that can sometimes arise between teachers and their students. GoSoapBox was designed to improve student engagement by breaking down the barriers students face when it comes to class participation. John Pytel, CEO of GoSoapBox, states that he too had difficulty asking questions in class. “Like most students, I had many questions but more often than not didn’t raise my hand.”

This is part of the problem many teachers face. They don’t always have time to assess if all their students understand the material that is being covered, every step of the way—not that they would have the time to stop instruction every time there was confusion.

With GoSoapBox, that task might become a little easier. The app has a back channel that allows students to ask questions, discuss topics, and indicate possible confusion without interrupting a lecture.  GoSoapBox has four core features.

The first is a Socially-Ranked Q&A. Students can submit, reply, and vote for questions they wish to have addressed. The questions with the most votes will automatically be given priority status. The teacher can then see what the most pressing questions are.

The second is the Discussions section. Here, teachers can add a discussion and/or ask an open-ended question to which students can respond. All responses remain anonymous, so teachers are given the opportunity to hear from students who normally may be reluctant to respond in class.

The third section is the Confusion Barometer. At any point during discussions, students have one of two possible status updates: I am getting it or I am confused. The number of confused students gets updated to the teacher’s interface in real time, so they have the option to stop the discussion if they see that too many students are not ‘getting it’.

In the last section, Polling, teachers can generate polls for students to participate in. One of the great things about GoSoapBox is that it is available to students both inside and outside of the classroom. Therefore, questions that were not addressed during class can then be addressed at a more convenient time.

The service itself costs teachers $15 per month or $90 per year. This might be the only drawback, especially when you consider a recent study that reported that teachers in the 2009-2010 school year spent more than $1.3 billion out of pocket ($356 per teacher) on school supplies in the U.S. alone. And by all accounts, this is a conservative estimate. However, for teachers and schools that can afford this new service, GoSoapBox may just be that little extra help teachers need.