Chat Groups are online communities that allow learners to pursue their interests and connect with other learners anytime, anywhere. Chat Groups are similar to a forum and are fully “asynchronous” - learners can participate whenever they’d like, perfect for families with busy schedules. Chat Groups are a great complement to the Outschool Classes that a learner might take. Please note that Chat Groups are only available to learners ages 8-18.

When your learner first joins a Chat Group or is being re-enrolled, they will be asked to record a short video introduction to verify that they are between 8 and 18 years old and to agree to the Chat Group's participation guidelines, as shown below.

Please note that the video must include an audible, verbal introduction from the learner for verification purposes.

To avoid being charged credits for the next month, you must stop your Chat Group enrollment before 4 p.m. PT on the last day of the month.

Please note that withdrawing from a class will remove access to all class content.

Learners can access their Chat Groups from the Schedule tab of their Learner Space. In a Chat Group, learners can see posts created by the teacher who leads the Chat Group and by other learners. They are able to engage with a post by adding an image, comment, or emoji reaction to share their thoughts, participate in a discussion, or just give kudos for a cool project.

Learners can also create their own posts to share with the Chat Group. Posts are designed around “show and tell,” and are great ways for learners to ask questions, share what they’re learning, and get feedback from others in the Chat Group on their latest projects.

Across Outschool, we want all kids to always feel safe and connected in a fun, comfortable, and inclusive learning environment. Outschool has designed the experience with safety in mind so learners can engage with one another and explore their passions.

When learners post or comment in a Chat Group, their content is private to the Group and not shared publicly. The only people who can see what learners share in a Chat Group are other enrolled, verified learners, the educator who leads the Chat Group, and Outschool administrators.

To ensure that all learners in the Chat Group are kids 18 or younger, we verify learners that enroll in Chat Groups analogous to our learner verification for live classes. Before participating, we ask each learner enrolling in a Chat Group to record a short video introducing themselves and sharing their interest in the Chat Group’s topic. Outschool’s Safety team then reviews this video. If learners wish to enroll in a Chat Group without recording this video, they may undergo our alternative Learner Verification process by emailing verification@outschool.com.

All Chat Groups are led by an educator who encourages all learners in the Chat Group to participate in a positive and inclusive way. In addition, all content shared in Chat Groups must adhere to our community standards, and members of the Outschool team will step in to moderate messages and content if such content violates these standards.