platform that is part Facebook and part Blackboard

Thiel and Founder’s Fund-backed startup is doing that with a platform that is part Facebook and part Blackboard — for courses. In other words, Lore aims to act as a replacement for the infamous course management system with a gradebook, calendar and document uploading (for class assignments), while giving students a social network-style newsfeed for classroom conversations.

However, until now, Lore has been primarily focused on creating functional communities around courses, and students could only join Lore if a teacher invited them. While courses are remaining the central axis of the network, the startup has launched “Lore For Students,” which now lets students join themselves and create academic profiles, follow classmates and professors and join groups (like study sessions or clubs).