We created this innovation to address the inequality in education, where overcrowded classrooms and limited teacher resources hinder personalized learning. Wealthier children can access private tutors, while low-income students often miss out on quality education.
We believe every child deserves the opportunity to succeed. Our peer tutoring model empowers students to help each other learn, with teachers playing a key role in overseeing quality and providing support. By offering structured tools and resources, we transform classrooms into environments where students actively teach and learn from one another. Teachers continue to guide the process, ensuring that learning is effective and that students stay engaged.
This approach improves academic outcomes and helps students develop essential life skills like leadership, communication, and empathy. Financial rewards for issuing diplomas further motivate participation, encouraging students to take ownership of their learning. This model fosters a sense of community where students support one another's success, while teachers still retain the critical role of guiding and verifying the learning process.
In the future, fields like science and technology will highly value math experts. Strong math foundations are essential for success in these fields. By making math engaging and accessible, we help students build critical thinking and communication skills, both of which are highly valued in today's world.
In practice, our innovation is a peer-led, play-based tutoring model that actively engages children of all grades at schools. Using the Slonig app, students take on the role of tutors, teaching their peers foundational mathematics skills, with plans to expand to other subjects. As they help others learn, they issue digital diplomas as proof of progress. These diplomas can be verified anytime by adult educators/parents to ensure quality learning outcomes.
Teachers play a crucial role in guiding the process, ensuring effective teaching, and verifying the diplomas. They provide support, oversee the learning environment, and give feedback to both tutors and learners. Teachers ensure the quality of the learning while students actively participate in the teaching process.
Once validated, both the tutor and the learner receive real rewards, providing an economic incentive that boosts engagement. This system creates a dynamic, interactive environment where children deepen their understanding of the material and develop important life skills, including leadership, responsibility, and teamwork.
By combining education with real-world rewards and the essential support of teachers, we foster a collaborative learning community that promotes academic success and personal growth, giving students the skills they need for the future.
Over the past five years, we have piloted our peer-learning system in both public and private schools, with a strong focus on math education. Our goal has been to boost student engagement, foster agency, and improve academic outcomes, particularly for underserved learners. The system empowers students to teach one another, supported by structured peer feedback and rewards. The results have been promising:
- 100% of students found the sessions more engaging than traditional math lessons.
- 56% reported learning more from peer-led math sessions than from regular classes.
- 81% felt more comfortable learning math in this format.
- 87% of parents supported the continued use of the program in schools.
We also conducted a pilot market study with 82 teachers:
- 39% expressed strong interest in the solution.
- 14% tested the product.
- 6% became repeat users.
This success has led to growing interest and adoption. As a result, we are expanding the program to more schools, aiming to reach more students and educators who can benefit from this innovative math-focused approach.
To get started, simply visit our store on https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/den-slon. There, you can download free materials that contain all the necessary steps to use the Slonig app. The materials guide you through everything, from setting up the app to implementing the peer tutoring process in the classroom. Follow the easy instructions to begin the interactive learning experience and enhance student engagement.
