Web 2.0 | News

'Social Network for Learning' To Launch Next Week

• By Evan Tassistro
• 08/03/10

MBS Service Co. has unveiled Xplana, an education-focused social network that will couple features common to online communities with sharable academic content resources at no cost to users. Slated for an Aug. 9 launch, Xplana will be accessible via Web browser or through a free application for iPhone/iPod and Android mobile devices, with Blackberry support planned for a future release.

"Xplana is best described as the social network for learning," said Dennis Flanagan, chief executive officer of Xplana. "It's the first ever 'social learning' platform designed to bring the entire student learning life into a single location."

A social network itself featuring associated tools like friend networks, message inbox, and instant chat, Xplana integrates with other popular social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr and aims to improve access to content specific to each user's needs by providing search and sharing functionality.

The platform delivers a searchable library of free academic resources and tools, as well as user-created content items. Content items, which will never expire or be removed from the system, according to the company, are organized according to personal preference on the user's home page, from which they may be shared by linking within Xplana or other supported social networking sites.

More information can be found here.