Athlo

Athlo is a mobile app for high school students, parents, and their educators to receive information about 1) what is happening in the school and 2) how the education system is performing. After publicizing on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with a hashtag- if Athlo’s platform reaches 100 high schools across the United States by December 1st 2016 then they will release it to users internationally.

I’m excited because I’m trying to see this app as an extra way that schools can promote attendance. We are currently in a period of change with all our school systems due to cost constraints, new accountability rates being placed on teachers as well as students, and more funding going toward arts-based curriculums.

Athlo Founder, Matthew Mansell has stated that he believes the app will help socialize parents and students together to let them know what school is doing. I believe this could give students more incentive to stay at school because they will finally know what their teachers are teaching/learning. With this information freely available, families can quickly see what is going on in school and how their children’s performance compares to other schools’ systems around the country. Also, the next fitness unicorn can use this app to track their progress in school and show their perseverance.

According to Matthew Mansell, the Athlo will include a student message board where students can post announcements, questions, or keep each other informed about what is going on in the school. They will be able to comment and discuss the topic. This would encourage collaboration in the classroom because students could talk about what they are learning during class time rather than doing it alone during their off time. The messages would also help keep them at school longer so they don’t have to feel like they are missing out on something important happening in the class.

“Most of our current education system is not meant to inspire students, but it is meant to follow a basic pattern of teaching that is outdated, and simply teaching them the facts and preparing them for the externals that are required for life. A current online survey conducted by Understood suggests that over 90% of American high school students want a different educational system than what they currently have access to”.

See this article on CrunchBase, to learn more.

Learn more about Athlo and Mansell on https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/fitness/a41595461/athlo-app/