Microsoft's Bing is going back to school with a new initiative aimed at teaching digital literacy skills. Starting later this year, Bing For Schools will provide to educational institutions ad-free search results, enhanced privacy protections, and the filtering of adult content, as well as enhanced specialized learning features.
"As a country, we've set schools aside as a special place that is focused on learning, and have traditionally kept advertising out of that environment," Bing behavioral scientist Matt Wallaert said in a blog post.
In that vein, Bing For Schools removes ads from searches, "keeping with our strong belief that schools are for learning and not selling," Wallaert wrote. Additionally, the system will automatically default to the "strict" SafeSearch setting, removing the ability for students to change it.
The free program is voluntary; those who choose to participate can enable the system across all Bing searches within the school's network, without installing any software or using a separate search address.
While the company continues to finalize its first iteration of the service, it remains mum about what users can expect, only teasing features like short lesson plans that teach digital literacy skills related to search.
"For example, this picture of a sloth might be coupled with the question, 'How many sloths could live in one square mile of jungle?' and a lesson helping students use search tools and critical thinking to find potential answers," wrote Wallaert, a former teacher.
More details will be announced as the new school year approaches, but for now, interested educators and parents can register online for future updates. There is no official launch date for the program, which Bing said will roll out slowly to interested schools.
Meanwhile, Google recently unveiled its own scholastic option via Google Play for Education, which launches this fall and allows teachers to discover apps designed specifically for K-12 students.
For more, see PCMag's review of Microsoft Bing and the slideshow above.
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