{"id":1466,"date":"2022-06-16T17:39:15","date_gmt":"2022-06-16T17:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/eecsnews\/?p=1466"},"modified":"2022-06-16T17:56:49","modified_gmt":"2022-06-16T17:56:49","slug":"alerting-students-toward-better-grades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/eecsnews\/2022\/06\/16\/alerting-students-toward-better-grades\/","title":{"rendered":"Alerting students toward better grades"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Dmytro<\/a>
Oregon State University students Dmytro Shabanov (left) and Harry Herzberg are working on a startup company to help students get better grades.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Two Oregon State University students are winning entrepreneurship awards as part of the team developing Alerty<\/a>, a mobile app to help students \u2014 especially those with ADHD \u2014 perform better in class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most recently, the team won the Social Entrepreneurship Award at the TiE University Global Pitch Competition<\/a> and was one of 30 teams to advance to the semifinal round, out of some 1,400 accepted into the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harry Herzberg, a senior in computer science, and Dmytro Shabanov, a senior in finance and marketing, are joined on the Alerty team by their business partners Jade Zavsklavsky, Artemis Kearny, Nicholas Craycraft, Alexander Victoria Trujillo, and Freya Crowe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Alerty app transcribes class lectures in real time to help students not only to review content, but also to see what they might have just missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herzberg explained that students with attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder may unintentionally lose focus in class and \u2014 because college courses are often fast-paced, with information that builds upon itself \u2014 quickly get left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had many classes where I\u2019ve missed the teacher talking about the homework assignment, or a key point,\u201d said Herzberg, who has ADHD. \u201cThen I\u2019m spending the entire day or even weeks trying to catch up, just because I missed that one important point.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Herzberg got the idea for Alerty when he was in high school. His sister worked as a paraeducator who assisted students with learning disabilities by sitting with them in class, giving them one-on-one support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wanted to make something that people would want to use as a tool, without drawing attention to themselves,\u201d Herzberg said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when classes were being taught asynchronously online, Herzberg liked that he was able to go back and replay the lectures and absorb concepts he may have missed in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was able to get better grades and even made the Dean\u2019s List because I was able to go back and replay, slow down, and speed up the videos,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alerty is a two-way street. The instructor must use the app in order for students to use it themselves. When the instructor makes an important point, they press a button on the app, which alerts students with a vibration on their phones or tablets. The app also highlights the corresponding part of the transcript in blue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After class, students can review the lecture and, if necessary, select a portion of the transcript to ask the instructor for clarification. This feature also helps instructors to see where students are struggling over certain concepts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The app can help many other students as well, including those who have different learning styles, English language learners, and those who have difficulty hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the TiE award, Alerty earned second place in the College of Business\u2019s Launch Academy<\/a> competition, and a grant from the 1517 Fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shabanov, who is responsible for the company\u2019s business strategy, marketing, and financial planning, is working on obtaining additional funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Bailey<\/a>, professor of computer science, beta-tested Alerty in one of his classes during spring term. \u201cFor those who have difficulty focusing and taking notes in class, I think this could be a game-changer,\u201d he said.
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