Korean Startup Intros Mobile Social Network for Classrooms

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 12/17/13

A classroom social network service developed by a former teacher is trying to break into the American education market after a successful run in South Korea. Classting, by a company of the same name, is designed to bridge the gap, according to CEO Dave Cho, between the "two different generations in the classroom, the students and the teachers." The company said its application is currently in use in 6,000 schools in South Korea.

According to coverage in the Wall Street Journal, Cho concocted the idea for the service after trying to network with his students through other more popular social sites. He gave up on that when students showed reluctance to open up their social media profiles to teachers and parents and when schools began banning smartphones in the classroom.

The program provides a secure environment for users to send and receive messages, post photos and class notices, share member profiles, access cloud-saved documents and connect to other classrooms also using the service. The company is also promoting Classting as a way to provide teacher advising to students through a "private counseling" menu.

Classting runs online and is available as an Apple iOS and Google Android app.

The company received a boost when it was named as one of several South Korean startups to be selected by a Google for Entrepreneurs initiative, which came with free workspace and technical, operational and business mentoring, in Korea. That included a trip for Cho and other winners on the road to London and the San Francisco Bay area to meet possible investors. After conquering the United States, the next stop for the start-up will be Japan.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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