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An integrated reading, research, and writing platformto develop
modern media literacy.
Imagine human beings living in an underground cave, with their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see what is in front of them. Behind them, a fire blazes, and between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway on which puppeteers carry figures.
The prisoners can only see the shadows of these figures projected on the cave wall in front of them. They believe these shadows are the only reality.
If one prisoner is freed and forced to look at the fire, the light pains his eyes. He is told that what he saw before were mere shadows, and now he sees what is more real.
Enhances your existing syllabus and assignments
Works with articles, academic papers, historical documents, and literature
Rich analytics to drive each student's progress
Assign articles, PDFs, and your own readings. Set weekly goals and measure progress. Over time, students read with more awareness and intention.
Imagine human beings living in an underground cave, their legs and necks chained so they cannot move and can only see what is in front of them.
Behind them, a fire blazes. Between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway on which puppeteers carry figures.
The prisoners can only see the shadows of these figures projected on the cave wall in front of them.
A credibility layer on top of any text. Students question, review, save, and add evidence for or against any claim.
Imagine human beings living in an underground cave, their legs and necks chained so they cannot move.
Behind them, a fire blazes. Between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway on which puppeteers carry figures.
The prisoners can only see the shadows of these figures projected on the cave wall in front of them.
Students save links, quotes, and images from across the web into Collections. A library that builds itself from what your students actually read.
A writing surface that pulls in saved evidence. One-click footnotes from class readings. Built-in AI cheat detection shows whether each citation was actually read.
Plato's allegory is not primarily about reality. It is about the difficulty of education1. The freed prisoner does not simply discover truth; he is dragged toward it, blinded, and forced to adjust.
The shadows on the cave wall are not lies. They are the only truth the prisoners have known2. This makes the return journey, where the freed prisoner tries to teach the others, the hardest part of the story3.
Words accumulate naturally across every reading. Definitions in context, not in isolation.
Better synthesis of your evidence than last week.
Give more weight to counter-arguments next week.
Don't be afraid to challenge Plato.
Serge Danielson-Francois teaches World History, US History, and Senior Seminar. He's used AverPoint Classroom for five years across 150 students. He integrates AverPoint into a continuous weekly rhythm of reading, research, and writing.
He intentionally assigns 5× the articles students are required to read. Students scan headlines and sources first, then invest their reading time strategically.
Articles read. Minutes read. Claims saved. Quantifies engagement without quantifying conclusions.
Early-semester essays use preloaded evidence so students focus on thesis-building. Later essays require students to use their own saved evidence.
Before AverPoint, Serge assigned 3 argumentative essays per semester. With AverPoint, he assigns one per week, building muscle memory and weekly improvement.
"AverPoint is a 10. It is the only educational technology resource that I use daily."Serge Danielson-Francois, Social Studies teacher, Academy of the Sacred Heart, Michigan
Media literacy used to be a one-off module. Identify the bias, spot the misinformation, fact-check the source.
These sound lessons are hard to apply outside the classroom.
Today's smartphones and algorithms are designed to paralyze critical thinking.
We take a cognitive approach to media literacy that helps students build autonomy over their media consumption and meaning creation.
Media literacy requires prior knowledge, critical thinking skills, and personal drive.
Classroom is a flexible reading, writing, and research platform teachers can apply to any existing course. The News Challenge is a structured reading program, usually a 10-week supplemental exercise.
The News Challenge is built on Classroom's reading features. Teachers often start with the simple News Challenge, and then extend and customize.
Ready to explore if Classroom works for your courses?
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