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Rumor has it Facebook is working on an online learning platform.
A group of managers of Facebook groups that are listed as a class or school reported to have recently noticed a few updates in their group pages. The upgrade is an “Add a course unit” option where they can upload courses and also track student progress.
The new features are part of an initiative called ‘Developers Circles’ launched at this year F8 conference, reports Carl Straumsheim for Inside Higher Ed. The company is currently working with Udacity to create training programs for developers.
Even though the initiative is for developers only, some users are beginning to notice new features on their school groups, suggesting the social network is probably thinking on creating an online platform inside Facebook.
Although Facebook has not officially reported to be working on an online platform, a Facebook spokesperson had said that the company is only “testing” these features. Nevertheless, it is known that its creator, Mark Zuckerberg has shown great interest in education, specifically through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative where he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are working on a few initiatives to transform education.
One of the initiatives of their education and healthcare foundation is the partnership with The College Board to provide personalized pathways to college. Moreover, the initiative recently reported to be working with housing startup Landed in an effort to keep public school teachers in the cities where they work.
This may be another attempt by Zuckerberg to become the only platform in the world. It is not surprise that Zuckerberg wants users to never leave the platform, not even to study and learn.
