theLearnia is a free educational social network that took the challenge of turning the learning process into social fun. Students spend an average of 700 minutes a month on social networking, so why not turn that into something that will help them learn?

Unlike other social networks, theLearnia focuses on social activities that are related to education in a way that it connects students, classmates, and their teachers, helping them to share knowledge and benefit from existing technology.

It will not surprise anyone if I claim that the students of today enjoy watching movies compared to reading books. They want all the materials processed and to the point. When Smartphones, tablets, and Internet links are all readily available, the best practice is to use short educational videos for education instead of the printed word.

Short video lessons of different topics that relate to k-12 educational programs are the best way to get the students’ attention. A variety of teachers that teach the same topic in different ways gives the students the freedom to choose the lessons they liked and could best learn from.

The challenge – The biggest educational library for free

To create an educational video library using different teachers that will cover the whole educational program requires a massive money investment and time. This is an ambitious project even for big companies, not to mention a new startup.

An ever-growing library can only be created by user-generated content. This is also known as the “the wisdom of crowds” and is the basic idea of Wikipedia. theLearnia provides the tool to share your knowledge with others.

Teachers, parents, or anyone who has a knowledge on specific topic and always claimed, “I could have taught that better!” can share their knowledge with the world.

However, how can they guarantee that all video lessons are educationally adequate? The company claims that they have developed a smart statistical engine called “Adaptive-LMS™” that take advantage of user inputs to rate the lessons quality, organize the materials under grade, subject, and class, and even track students’ performances and the learning curve. So users from one side upload lessons and from the other side other users reports on it and votes for it.

Sample Video Screenshot

A complete solution to solve all students’ needs? Not yet.

Let’s not forget the fun side. After all, this is an essential part of the equation to attract students to invest time, explore, share, and learn. Using the social platform, students can prepare homework together with friends, watch uploaded content together, and share new videos they like with each other.
Teachers who upload high quality lessons will understand the benefit of this social network, since the minute it is published, students will share it with others.
Students will also be exposed to complementary materials that are not part of the formal educational program at school but will add another layer of knowledge to help them connect the dots of data into big picture of knowledge.

But, safety first please

In some countries, the ministry of education does not allow students and teachers to communicate via social networks.
To overcome this limitation, theLearnia differs between students and teachers. A teacher is considered as a “content contributor,” and his profile is visible to all. Teachers, however, can’t ask for friendship from a student and whatever a student does can be shared only among other students.

Learning becomes fun

Having these three layers of a social network, a library of educational videos, and a smart engine to monitor the content seems like the complete solution for students’ needs. Consider the fact that theLearnia is totally free and all you need is a PC with an Internet connection, and here is a great example for equal opportunity in education for every child. Of course, the rest totally depends on the students’ willingness to learn.

Sample of searching on theLearnia

About theLearnia

theLearnia is a free social educational network that allows millions of online students around the world to gain equal opportunity for education, learn while communicating together and share their knowledge.

For Students – theLearnia is an innovative online educational tool where students can learn with friends, practicing any learning skill, and choose the teachers who best suit their learning style. There are no overcrowded classes here—just fun and learning with teachers that they choose, each time they sign on.

For Teachers – theLearnia is a platform for any educator or parent to share their knowledge and special educational skills, inspiring millions of students to learn and offer their feedback on the lessons, creating a circle of learning through mutual sharing and creativity. This provides them with career satisfaction and the drive to create new ways to educate their students with every lesson they upload.