Web-based education tries to get more social

Three University of Pennsylvania dropouts are getting venture capital and the backing of Ivy League universities in their quest to get college students to use Lore.com, an interactive Web-based tool designed to make the academic process more efficient.

The seven-month-old start-up unveiled an overhaul of Lore to make the platform more similar to a social networking site, such as Facebook.com. The site is also used for online courses and course management tools, including grade books and other tools. Universities, such as Harvard, Stanford and Princeton, have adopted the platform, according to co-founder and CEO Joe Cohen, although Lore has an uphill battle in its bid to unseat Blackboard, a much larger company that offers similar services. Originally known as Coursekit, Lore's founders say their vision is to build a more consumer-friendly product on which students will interact with each other , not just with professors and college administrations.