Damon Moon, MBA '12

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Damon Moon, MBA '12, has received significant press coverage recently, due to the popularity of a tech product he created: an icebreaker app called AskClass, a platform for teachers to use in their in-person and Zoom classes, to help students regain their social skills.

A father of two children (age 12 and 13) and a lecturer at Lucas College and Graduate School of Business at San Jose State University, Moon became concerned as he saw students struggling during the pandemic.

"It was absolutely heartbreaking to see students struggle over the last 2 years," he said. "There isn't a good explanation for the reasons behind the decline.

"But I do know that lack of relationships has played a big factor. Learning in Zoom classes and socially distanced classrooms with masks didn't help on the relationship side of their lives.  Long term trends of broken families, lower church attendance, and lack of social interactions, compounded with extended use of social media have pointed us toward this direction.

"Students stopped talking to each other. They are coming into a silent room where the majority of people are staring at their phones.  No wonder it is not fun to attend schools.

"Last year, I started creating natural opportunities that would help students talk to each other, whether it is on Zoom or in person.  I packaged that experience into software and it started to spread among the teachers.  Now 300+ teachers have been using this across 50+ schools around the world.

"As a new teacher, I have benefited significantly in getting the students' attention and motivation.  Other teachers have told me that their students are kinder and gentler toward others because they know who their peers are and they are way more motivated to come to class and learn.  It has created a different classroom dynamic for them.  Students find themselves enjoying hanging out outside their classes and are motivated to push harder to study."

Read the Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) and view the Newsy story.