Kloop: Your Go-To App for Finding, Storing, & Sharing Online Articles

Kloop is designed to support users in searching, locating, storing, and sharing online materials. After launching Kloop and registering it with a Twitter or Facebook account, users can tap the “Read” button on the bottom of the screen to view headlines for trending news articles. When users see a headline of interest, they can tap it to view the full article. If users wish to save it, they can tap the “Kloop It” button on the top right of the screen. Users can then save the article to the app by tapping a previously created channel or, if a channel has not been created, by tapping the “+ New Channel” button on the bottom of the page.

To create a new channel from this point, users will need to name the channel and pick a color to represent it. In addition, if users wish to allow other users to add content to their channel, they can click the “Collaborators” option and choose their friend to be a collaborator. By storing articles in channels, users will be able to access those articles at any time by tapping the “Channel” button on the bottom of the page and choosing the channel. All the articles that have been saved to that channel will be listed there and can be accessed by tapping the article’s headline.

From the main menu, users can tap the “Search” button on the bottom of the screen to locate articles by keyword. After clicking the “Search” button, users can enter the keyword on the top of the screen and then the search button. Kloop will then report the articles based on the keyword. Users can then view the articles and add them to a channel.

To create a new channel from the main screen, users can tap the “Channels” button on the bottom of the screen. A new screen will load, and users can create a channel by tapping the “+” button on the top right of the screen. Users will then need to name it, choose a color to represent it, and add collaborators. In addition, users can delete or mute a channel by clicking on a channel and choosing one of those options.

Instructional Ideas for Kloop

1. When preparing to create a presentation, write a report, or locate information about a topic, students can search for their topic in this app and create channels related to their topic. For example, if studying a person, students can create separate channels for the person’s childhood, education, career, and legacy. Or, if students are reporting on a current event, they can create channels for background information leading up to the current event, main figures related to the event, and the impact of the event on local populations. That way, when students go to develop their presentation or report, they will be able to quickly access the pertinent information they sought.
2. Teachers can assign students a topic and then have them use this app to locate articles about it. As they find articles, students can save them to a channel they created for the topic. Next, students can review the articles they saved with a partner and share the important information. The pairs of students can look for similarities, patterns, and/or themes that cut across their articles. At this point, teachers can have the pairs share some of the ideas they identified from the articles with the class.
3. Teachers can have students use this app to search for current event articles of interest that may relate to fashion, politics, sports, celebrities, or more. As students read articles of interest, they can save them to a “Pleasure Reading” channel they created. Teachers can then use articles as springboards into other activities, such as grammar lessons, author bias, primary and secondary resources, and more!
4. Teachers can have students analyze if they prefer this app or Pocket Teachers can have a class discussion where students use both apps and evaluate them for strengths and limitations. As a class, they can decide which app they wish to use for future work.
5. Teachers can craft a lead up to an annotated bibliography assignment around this app. To do so, teachers can give students the opportunity to select a topic and locate a specific number of articles about the topic. Students can then use a word processing app, such as Simplenote, Quip, or TextEditor, to record a citation for each article along with a brief summary. Once the required number of articles has been included in the annotated bibliography, students can email the annotated bibliography to their teacher or post it to a class website.

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