Developers Partner for K-8 Social Learning Platform
Online developer Everloop and educational publisher i-Safe are teaming up to launch an online social platform targeted toward K-8 students and their teachers. The effort will deliver i-Safe's media literacy and digital citizenship curricula in a social networking environment designed specifically for kids 13 and younger.
Expected to debut formally in about two months, the platform will take the form of a "series of school social learning networks," which are called "loops." Everloop described the technology as "an alternative to open social networks like Facebook. It allows users under the age of 13 to participate in online learning, communicate with friends and classmates, and spend purposeful time with activities tweens love. It does not allow kids to post information that could identify them to strangers, and prevents bullying and inappropriate behavior. Everloop's unique, age-appropriate social media experience created by intertwined micro-networks called 'loops' is unlike any other social platform on the market today. Loops featured on Everloop include communities of common interest (art, science, culture, reading, sports, current affairs etc.), creative applications for the creation of digital art, music, social games, videos, photos, animation, premium content e-storefront, user-generated content, and other integrated online learning experiences."
Everloop's platform offers features familiar to social networking users, including IM, video uploads, voice chat, and support for SMS, as well as security features tailored for younger users, such as:
- Parental controls;
- User authentication;
- Real-time moderation; and
- Various privacy protection controls.
The companies said the new platform will launch in April. Everloop is free to join. Further information can be found here.