Ever struggled with the problem of a ghosttown classroom? You can’t tell if the students understand, are lost, are awake or even still conscious? This happens in a lot of classrooms where lecture-style education is still the norm, and where the pressure to conform is greater than the want to be engaged in class. That’s where this app comes in – ClassChat.
EVA:
Pain Point: lack of student feedback during class
- This stems from shyness, embarrassment, an emphasis on stoic attention during lecture-style teaching
- Students don’t know when to ask about things they don’t understand, they don’t want to interrupt, they intend to ask their friends later (but often forget)
- Class is content-heavy or fast-paced, and the teacher doesn’t have time for a comprehension check or to field questions
Solution: ClassChat
- Live chatroom for students in a class to ask questions, answer each other, and communicate without disrupting the lesson with 2-factor authentication and server differentiation
Differentiation
- Potential alternatives are Slack, Line, Facebook groups, and other messaging software
- HOWEVER, they are not optimized for classrooms (users need to know each other’s login, or be invited to a group, chats are open all the time with not administrator controls, it requires sharing personal information, the apps are public without designated servers, etc.)
- ClassChat has an individual server for each school, where students use their school login, individual chatrooms for classes that are active only during the lesson (or rather, at the teacher’s discretion), and monitored by the teacher
- Simple for technologically-inexperienced teachers; robust features and support for those who wish to dabble
Marketing
- To school boards or individual schools: internet access / mobile device use is institution-dependent
Competition
- Slack (paid), Line (no groups), Classi (not live), Facebook groups (privacy, not moderated), Google docs (personal info, no groups, not school specific), ClearS, Arcteus (both outside of class, no admin control), Backchannel Chat (paid, not school-specific, English only), Nearpod (requires ppt / some kind of teacher prompt)
The Return
- This is a new product in our market, and it’s a pain point we all know too well. The Japanese government intends to make education even more intensive in the coming years, and without the means to communicate openly and meaningfully, their efforts will be fruitless. Our product addresses an immediate concern for a decades-old problem, to bridge the gap between teachers who aren’t comfortable with constructivist teaching in their class yet, and students who want to be engaged but feel stifled. In short, it has potential, and we’ll bring the promise. Be part of a product that speaks up and stands out.
Watch the elevator pitch below, then head over to https://lycanb64.wixsite.com/classchat (desktop only) for the venture pitch!
Cheers!
– Basia
