Studies show that one of the best ways to help students succeed is by giving them timely, specific feedback.

That’s why Connor Nowalk and Nick Schulte created Echograde, an app that speeds up the feedback process. Students can use their smartphone or tablet to take a picture of their homework and send the image to their teachers, who can draw on the picture and send back other comments.

“They get it in a timely manner, and they get descriptive feedback to help move closer to their learning goals,” Nowalk said.

Nowalk, Echograde’s CEO, talked about the app during the Aug. 19 edition of 1 Million Cups at the Kauffman Foundation.

Nowalk, who taught math for four years here in Kansas City, acknowledged that similar apps and services already exist. But most of those are geared toward true-or-false or multiple-choice questions, and students have to input their answers on a computer. Echograde works especially well with science, math or visual-art assignments, where students need to “show their work.”

Though the service can be used with any connected device, including a desktop, it’s ideal for students in the fifth grade and up, kids who might already have their own devices.

“We’re trying to find a niche that is smaller, but equally important to the learning process,” Nowalk said.

Echograde was part of the inaugural class of the Lean Lab, a Kansas City incubator devoted to educational innovations. A subscription costs $60 per year, and the startup is focusing on teachers as its first clients before approaching school systems to buy district-wide licenses.

If they can win over individual teachers, Echograde will have proof that it’s a product that works in the classroom. “We want to have an excellent product for teachers,” said Nowalk.