Social media, online games and text messaging can be a real distraction for students, leaving teachers wary about the use of technology in the classroom.
But now, some teachers are making use of a new app to help students stay on track with their work.
Remind, a San Francisco-based startup, offers teachers an app powered by the cloud that allows them to stay connected to students and parents. The app enables instructors to distribute announcements, assignment reminders and study guides. They can even issue real-time quizzes using the two-way messaging function.
Since parents are included in the communication, they can assist in keeping students accountable for their work.
Remind CEO Brett Kopf told Time that teachers are attracted to the app because it allows them to focus on education rather than logistics. “We believe if we can literally save teachers three, five, 10 hours a week, they have more time to engage with their students,” he said.
Kopf, 28, and his brother David launched the first version of Remind in 2009.
But the app’s breakthrough came in 2011 when Kopf moved to San Francisco and rejiggered the app as a communication and organizational tool for teachers. Once that change was made, educators flocked through the tool and helped it spread via word of mouth. Today, Remind has more than 25 million registered users globally, including 1.5 million teachers. The company claims that it’s in use by about a third of K-12 teachers in the United States.
Remind is also gaining the attention of investors.
Read more from Time.