Goblins vs. Imagine Math
Why we built Goblins
Goblins lets students speak and draw to learn math. That lets Goblin, the tutor, pinpoint exactly where mistakes and misconceptions arise. Nobody has to notice they are stuck, click a button, and explain the problem from scratch to someone starting cold. The Gates Foundation funds Goblins.
“I cannot split myself up into 30 pieces. ... It truly is powerful because there's like 30 of mes in the computer.”
Bobbye Graboyes · 26-year math teacher
“I get to in real time see how they're doing and if they understand it, and I can pull small groups. ... It's really, really been a game changer for me.”
Renee Schuch · 6th Grade Math · Deer Valley
“When they're doing the questions in Goblins, it's like I'm sitting there helping them. ... I can go into Goblins and I can look at literally the history of every question to see what the back and forth was.”
Rich Grell · HS Math Teacher, 22 yrs
Why not just use Imagine Math?
Imagine Math staffs Live Teaching with real, certified teachers, and the help still waits for the ask. The teachers are bilingual in English and Spanish, and Imagine Learning markets more than 75 hours of availability a week with nights and weekends included. A session starts when a student in Imagine Math 3+ decides they are stuck and clicks to connect. What opens is a text chat with a shared whiteboard. The teacher types, the student types or uses voice-to-text, and both can draw on the board. Nobody talks out loud.
The teacher arrives after the struggle and never saw the work. Getting help means noticing you are stuck, deciding to interrupt the lesson, clicking, and re-describing the problem in a chat box to someone starting cold. The students sliding furthest are the least likely to make that click. Goblin skips the queue because it never left. It watched every pencil stroke, heard the reasoning, and speaks the moment a student stalls, drawing visuals and mini lessons next to the problem instead of handing over the answer.
- Help is gated on the ask. Teaching starts only after the click to connect, and the PreK-2 band has no Live Teaching at all.
- The session runs over text chat and a shared whiteboard, not live audio, and not a tutor who watched the work happen.
- Teachers on G2 report lessons that move on before students learn the skill, wordy problems that tax struggling readers, and crashes mid-session.
- Both studies behind its ESSA rating are funded by Imagine Learning, and even they average +0.06 standard deviations, at the floor of what education researchers call a small effect.
Thousands of Teachers ❤️ Goblins
"A kid who'd never do homework is now 100% in my class."
Rich Grell
HS Math Teacher, 22 yrs
"A little me in the computer, guiding them. So powerful."
Bobbye Graboyes
26-year math teacher
"They can't just Google it. They have to actually understand."
Renee Schuch
6th Grade Math · Deer Valley
"Stuck? It walks them back two chapters, then builds them up."
Rich Grell
HS Math Teacher, 22 yrs
"I can't split into 30. Goblins is 30 of me."
Bobbye Graboyes
26-year math teacher
"It forces them to fill the gaps and prove their work."
Renee Schuch
6th Grade Math · Deer Valley
"Like I'm sitting with every kid, and I can see who's faking it."
Rich Grell
HS Math Teacher, 22 yrs
"She did every Goblins assignment and aced the makeup."
Bobbye Graboyes
26-year math teacher
"I see who's stuck in real time and pull them aside."
Renee Schuch
6th Grade Math · Deer Valley
"The AI's on every question when I can't reach everyone."
Kaleb Bembenek
7th Grade Math
"I'd love to move my teachers from Study Island to this."
Carol Howe
Principal · Sharpsville Area HS
"It breaks down every misconception in real time."
Jenn Tifft
Math & Science
"It reaches every student I can't get to in person."
Rebecca Mello
Algebra I & II
"My kids customize the goblin to look like them."
Kaleb Bembenek
7th Grade Math
"I'd love to move my teachers from Study Island to this."
Carol Howe
Principal · Sharpsville Area HS
"It breaks down every misconception in real time."
Jenn Tifft
Math & Science
"It reaches every student I can't get to in person."
Rebecca Mello
Algebra I & II
Frequently asked questions
Imagine Math's Live Teaching is real human tutoring, and it starts only after a student decides they are stuck and clicks to connect. Certified teachers, bilingual in English and Spanish, staff it inside Imagine Math 3+, and Imagine Learning markets more than 75 hours of availability a week, nights and weekends included. The session itself is a text chat with a shared whiteboard. Goblin was already watching the work, so it speaks up mid-problem and the student never has to make that call.
Imagine Learning sells Imagine Math by quote and publishes no price list, so the number depends on your district's contract. Idaho and Utah currently subsidize it statewide, per Imagine Learning's own state program pages. Goblins publishes its pricing, starting at free for teachers.
Imagine Math's G2 reviewers report lessons that move on before students have actually learned the skill.
- Complex question wording taxes struggling readers, per the same G2 reviews.
- Sessions crash mid-lesson, per the same reviews.
- Students skip the instructional videos, then feel quizzed on material nobody taught them.
Goblins was built against that first complaint. When a student misses, Goblin stops and teaches inside the problem instead of moving on.
Imagine Math's evidence averages +0.06 standard deviations, and both studies behind its ESSA rating were funded by Imagine Learning.
- The stronger study found +0.13 in Indiana grades 3 to 5 and no significant effect elsewhere.
Goblins is free for teachers, with 15 live help-enabled problems per student each month, standards-aligned assignments, worksheet uploads, and teacher avatars included, no credit card. Goblins Max, priced per school or district, makes live help unlimited and adds standards and engagement reporting.
Imagine Math's live teachers work in English and Spanish. Goblins students speak and draw in whatever language they think in, and Goblin keeps up. We never cap it at a number, and we add new languages whenever a classroom asks.
Yes. The live classroom view shows every student's work as it happens, so you know who is stuck this minute and can pull a small group on the spot. You also get session replays of the written work and the full tutor conversation for every problem.
Yes. Goblins complies with COPPA, FERPA, and student data privacy laws in all 50 states.
Weighing other options? See how Goblins compares.
Or see how schools run Goblins across intervention tiers in our MTSS math guide.