3 Social Network Alternatives for Schools

For educators looking to avoid the complications of having students work on consumer social media platforms, Common Sense Media’s service Graphite, which offers independent ratings and reviews of learning apps and websites, has compiled this list of resources that can facilitate social learning. For complete reviews, and for each app’s "Learning Rating," visit the Graphite website.


EdublogsEdublogs
Grades: K-12
Price: Free to try, paid by subscription
Skills: Digital creation, communicating effectively
Edublogs offers a safe platform for teachers and students to connect and share work online. Teachers create a classroom blog where they can post assignment calendars, lessons, discussions or info for parents. By blogging, students develop their personal writing styles and digital creation skills. To ensure privacy, teachers control settings for student accounts. Read the full Graphite review.


twiducatetwiducate
Grades: 1-12
Price: Free
Skills: Social media, collaboration
Created as a social network for schools, twiducate is a useful tool that teachers can use to communicate with students and fellow educators in a secure environment. Despite its simple design and limitations, users can personalize their profiles, e-mail each other, post deadlines and share resource links. It's a great way for elementary and secondary students to learn social media basics and develop best practices. Read the full Graphite review.


CellyCelly
Grades: 7-12
Price: Free
Skills: Applying technology, evaluating messages
Cool content features and privacy options makes Celly a top choice for creating social groups in schools. Users create groups or “cells,” and can choose to make them private or open. The cells themselves can have as many members as needed, and everyone inside a cell can curate topics, discuss those topics and run polls. Celly works on both mobile and Web platforms, so it's versatile as long as students have access. Read the full Graphite review.

About the Author

Common Sense Education helps educators find the best edtech tools, learn best practices for teaching with tech, and equip students with the skills they need to use technology safely and responsibly. Go to Common Sense Education for free resources including full reviews of digital tools, ready-made lesson plans, videos, webinars, and more.


Featured

  • robot typing on a computer

    Microsoft Unveils 'Computer Use' Automation in Copilot Studio

    Microsoft has announced a new AI-powered feature called "computer use" for its Copilot Studio platform that allows agents to directly interact with Web sites and desktop applications using simulated mouse clicks, menu selections and text inputs.

  • AI microchip under cybersecurity attack, surrounded by symbols of threats like a skull, spider, lock, and warning shield

    Report Finds Agentic AI Protocol Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks

    A new report from Backslash Security has identified significant security vulnerabilities in the Model Context Protocol (MCP), technology introduced by Anthropic in November 2024 to facilitate communication between AI agents and external tools.

  • educators seated at a table with a laptop and tablet, against a backdrop of muted geometric shapes

    HMH Forms Educator Council to Inform AI Tool Development

    Adaptive learning company HMH has established an AI Educator Council that brings together teachers, instructional coaches and leaders from school district across the country to help shape its AI solutions.

  • illustration of a human head with a glowing neural network in the brain, connected to tech icons on a cool blue-gray background

    Meta Introduces Stand-Alone AI App

    Meta Platforms has launched a stand-alone artificial intelligence app built on its proprietary Llama 4 model, intensifying the competitive race in generative AI alongside OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI.