The startup, which is launching Tuesday, makes a web-based app that serves as a constant back-channel to classroom discussion. Students can use it to post questions about the lecture, vote up questions their classmates have already submitted, set their statuses to "confused," and contribute to polls and questions posted by the teacher.
"With the app, students are less likely to get distracted because they’re staying engaged with the material," says GoSoapBox co-founder and CEO John Pytel, who says he got the idea while attending large lectures at Michigan State University. "The questions they have are getting answered."
To use the service, teachers pay $15 per month or $90 per year, and 1,300 of them have already enrolled in the free beta program.
Students don't need to create accounts or coordinate technology to use GoSoapBox. They simply type in a short code to whatever device they happen to be carrying.
The teacher is also saved from making disruptive changes to the lesson plan in order to accommodate the new technology. All of the behaviors on the app -- indicating confusion, responding to questions -- are natural in classrooms. Theoretically, the technology just makes it less disruptive and less intimidating for everyone to participate while providing teachers with instant feedback.
The product falls in a small category of education apps that actually seem viable for an average classroom.
Is GoSoapBox viable for all classrooms? Probably not. A 2009 survey by Blackboard and Project Tomorrow found that about 31% of ninth- to 12th-grade students had smartphones with Internet access. That number has probably significantly increased since, but we're still not at the point when every student has access to a mobile device or even a laptop throughout the school day.
Especially at universities, however, many students do have access to browsers during classtime. GoSoapBox provides a way for them to use those devices to interact with class rather than distract themselves from it.