Keeping students safe

MicroChat was built for classrooms, so keeping students safe is part of how it works — not an add-on.

No student accounts

Students never create accounts or give an email address. They join a session with a code and pick an alias — an animal name from a list. MicroChat never asks for or stores a student's real name.

Chats stay on topic

MicroChat only talks about coding, the micro:bit, MakeCode, and Forward Education's kits. If a student tries to chat about anything else, MicroChat politely steers back. It won't use or repeat rude language.

Personal details are protected

If a student types personal information — a name, address, phone number, or email — MicroChat reminds them not to share it online. Behind the scenes, MicroChat also scans chat content after a day and removes personal details from what's stored.

Teachers can see everything in their session

Every student's chat in a session is visible to the teacher who created it, from the session page. Nothing happens out of sight.

Limits keep things in check

Sessions have a set number of seats, a per-student message limit, and an expiry date, and teachers can pause or end a session at any time.

Published tutorials

Tutorials made with the Tutorial Builder are shared through MakeCode, a Microsoft site. Students may see MakeCode's standard note about content shared by other users — that's MakeCode being careful, and it's expected.

Questions

For Forward Education's privacy policy and terms, click Policy Documents at the bottom of the left-hand menu.